


three's a crowd (and i love an audience)

by Anonymous



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Stripper/Exotic Dancer, Fluff and Smut, M/M, Multi, Polyamory, Slow Build, Sugar Daddy, Threesome - M/M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-27
Updated: 2017-04-15
Packaged: 2018-09-27 05:39:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 45,997
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9978128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: You'd think a dancer, exotic or otherwise, would be more graceful.  Yet Sehun can't help the way he stumbles, trips, and falls directly in the middle of a budding relationship between his distressingly beautiful co-worker and a wealthy older man.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> alrighty i h a t e posting unfinished works but this bad boy has been a draft since the dawn of time and i'm hoping that having it partially uploaded will incentivize me to finally finish it up. wish me luck, and i hope this will be an enjoyable read in the end ♥

If he was being perfectly honest, Sehun would have to say he fucking hated hanging out at these types of places.  Loud music, loud people, cheap drinks, and cheaper patrons.  Girls who couldn’t take a hint, boys who thought they were anywhere near his league, older men who were positive they could bag a sweet young thing for the night just because they were willing to buy him drinks.  

Unfortunately, Sehun _worked_ in a club like this.  Except his place of employment had a stage in instead of a dance floor, and the drinks were usually on the house for him.  And most importantly, the only time he was in a crowd of handsy assholes was when they were throwing money at him.  Here, they just squeezed and scooted, like annoying kids playing ding-dong-ditch with his ass.  The only thing that made it sort of tolerable, for the moment at least, was Baekhyun.

Baekhyun was a bit of an enigma.  Originally, he was hired as a bartender at the club Sehun worked at.  Very friendly, very chatty, very pretty.  He was perfect for the job, and his tips nearly equaled the actual strippers some nights.  And then, as a joke, they let him dance in one of the early evening  warm-ups.

It stopped being a joke pretty fucking quickly.

They started doing routines together and built up a reputation thanks to their excellent chemistry, for the way Baekhyun’s flirtatious warmth complemented Sehun’s signature statuesque coldness.  And although everyone always warned him to not get attached back when he was still the new kid on the block, it was hard to follow that advice when he had to deal with Byun fucking Baekhyun alternating between filthily grinding on him and showering him with affection and free drinks every other night.

But here’s the thing: despite going full slut onstage and flirty behind the bar, Baekhyun was downright celibate off the club premises.  Rumors of an ex-girlfriend didn’t stop him from flirting with male customers _and_ co-workers alike, but he never went home with anyone.  Not patrons promising him a good time, not dancers who would give up a week’s worth of tips just to say they scored with him.

Not even Sehun, despite how many times he’d groped his ass in public and private – how he was groping his ass _right now_.

“Come on,” he gave Sehun’s ass an encouraging couple of squeezes as they stood near the bar, “You’re being even stuffier than usual tonight.”

So yeah, Sehun fucking hated clubbing.  He got enough EDM and screaming patrons when he was on the clock, but he let Baekhyun drag him here anyway.  They left the bar with their drinks in hand and holed up on one of the couches in front of a low table already dotted with drinks.  Almost before they sat down, Baekhyun was scanning the room for something, and Sehun wondered if he was going to wind up playing wingman tonight.

“You know what?” Baekhyun asked abruptly.  “I think I know the perfect person to keep you company.  He fucking hates clubs, too.”

“Now, wait a minute,” Sehun stopped Baekhyun from getting up.  “Do _not_ play matchmaker for me, hyung.”

“I’m not! I’m just trying to make the evening enjoyable for you.”

And then he slipped away, leaving Sehun to stew in lonely boredom as he tried to make himself as uninteresting looking to strangers as possible.  After a while, Sehun was sure Baekhyun either forgot about him or ditched him entirely.  He had no damn clue why Baekhyun even invited him out if he was just going to abandon him.  And then, just as Sehun was about to leave his spot and spend the rest of the night propping the bar until he found someone good enough to go home with, he saw Baekhyun approaching.  More importantly, he saw the man Baekhyun war practically dragging towards him.

Well, hello there.

The man seemed a little confused, but there was also amusement in his eyes as he let Baekhyun lead him through the club.  He was wearing a simple black suit sans tie that, on anyone else, would look out of place here.  On this man, however, it just made him look important and imposing, taller than he was and absolutely expensive.

“Sehun,” Baekhyun said, once they were in hearing range, “Meet Yixing.  Yixing, Sehun.”

“Familiar face,” Yixing held out his hand.  “Pleasure to finally meet you.”

Sehun accepted the handshake.  “I take it you’ve seen me working, then?”

“Yeah, I watched you dance with Baekhyun once,” Yixing’s eyes darted to Baekhyun, raking down his body for a split second before he looked back.  Sehun could practically feel the residual heat in his gaze.  “The two of you work well together.”

“We’ve been told,” Baekhyun shot a wink at Sehun.  “Sehun here has one of the prettiest faces in Seoul, doesn’t he?”

“It’s certainly something,” Yixing looked at him with appraising eyes.  “I can see why you’re so popular.”

Ordinarily, Sehun would soak up that kind of praise.  But right now, he felt like he was being played with in a game where nobody bothered to explain the rules.  Baekhyun pushed Yixing towards Sehun and all but shoved him down in the seat before crowding against his side.  Not even Baekhyun’s incessant chatter could cut the tension that brewed as Sehun and Yixing blatantly sized each other up.

It’s not that Sehun saw Yixing as a threat, exactly.  It was clear by the way Baekhyun was hanging off of him that he was interested, and Sehun _did_ feel the slow burn of jealousy under his skin.  But he’d gotten used to Baekhyun flirting with everyone around him at the club.  He could handle this as well.

Except this wasn’t work, and this guy was leagues beyond their ordinary patrons to the point where even Sehun felt himself flushing any time those dark eyes landed on him.  So don’t blame him for the weird unease settling under his skin.

Pretty soon, a girl Sehun didn’t recognize approached them and started talking animatedly to Baekhyun.  Probably someone from his classes, Sehun assumed.  She asked him for a dance and he agreed enthusiastically.

“Keep Yixing company for me!” Baekhyun said, and jumped up from his seat to follow the girl to the dance floor.

As soon as Baekhyun had pranced away, Yixing visibly deflated with a sigh.  “I’m too old for this place, aren’t I?”

Sehun grinned into his drink despite himself.  “Why are you even here, then?”

Yixing turned to look straight at Sehun, his mouth quirked in a small smile.  “Baekhyun asked me to come.”

Now, Sehun might not have been renown for his staggering intellect, but he wasn’t stupid.  There was something more to that statement than what could be seen on surface level, a history Sehun had been excluded from.  

“So, you met Baekhyun through the club?”

Yixing smiled a bit bashfully.  “No, actually.  We met when I ran straight into him in a cafe and dumped an iced coffee down his shirt.”

Sehun laughed before he could think better of it.  “Holy shit, I remember him telling me about that.”

“Not my best moment,” Yixing scratched the back of his neck.  “I didn’t actually see him at the club until I found out we had a mutual friend in Junmyeon.”

“You’re friends with the boss man?”

“Yeah,” he nodded, “I’ve known him for years.  We met way back when he was still moonlighting as Suho full time.”

Sehun grinned. “Oh, you knew him in his stripper days?”

Yixing bit his lip.  He looked like he was considering his next words very carefully.  What eventually came out, was, “We worked together, actually.”

Holy _shit_.

“You mean you were a dancer?”

“It’s how I paid for my education,” he admitted.  “Like what Baekhyun is doing.  I was always told I was _very_ good at it.”

Sehun could imagine.  He took a pull from his drink before he decided tact and subtlety could go fuck themselves.  “So, have you slept with him?”

Yixing’s eyebrows knitted.  “Junmyeon?”

“Baekhyun.”

“No!” Yixing said emphatically, looking – bless him – _embarrassed_.  “Not… Yet.”

Sehun huffed out a sardonic laugh.  “But you’ve got plans to.”

The embarrassment slowly faded as Yixing glanced down Sehun’s body, assessing him.  “And you don’t?”

“What I want doesn’t matter,” Sehun said into his drink, aiming for nonchalance but only achieving moodiness.  He looked out at the dance floor, but couldn’t discern one face from the next.  “If Baekhyun and I were going to fuck around, it would have happened by now.”

Suddenly, there were a pair of lips at his ear, the rich smell of cologne clogging his senses and filling his head.  “But you want to,” Yixing muttered, and Sehun flushed.

He turned his head.  The tips of their noses brushed for a second, just long enough so that there was no question of how close they were.  “So what if I do?  Do I look like competition to you?”

“Not quite,” Yixing said, and Sehun felt a hand fall to rest on his upper thigh.  “You look like something much better than that right now.”

Sehun curled his hand on top of Yixing’s.  “I’m not gonna be your next best thing.”

Yixing smiled.  It was uncharacteristically sweet for the kind of moment they were suspended in.  “You would never be.  I can see that already.”

While Sehun’s brain tried to work through the fog of annoyed arousal to figure out if he’d just been insulted or complemented, a loud voice jarred them away from each other.

“You two look miserable, let’s just fuck off for the night,” Baekhyun shouted over the music as he plopped down next to Yixing and pressed close.  “Is he coming with?”

Yixing turned to Sehun and quirked his eyebrow in question.

Wait, what?

“You mean…?”

“Back to Yixing’s place,” Baekhyun explained.  “He’s got booze for days, man.  We’ll party the way you two boring fucks like it.”

The searing heat from Yixing’s hand still lingered on Sehun’s thigh as he watched that same hand curl around Baekhyun’s waist and settle on his lower back.

“This is the first I’ve heard you complain.”

“It was an observation, not a complaint,” Baekhyun corrected.  “Though I’m sure we’d both have more fun if Sehun tagged along.”

Sehun was surprised to see Yixing practically pleading with his eyes.

“Okay,” Sehun said.  “I’m in.”

-

Time dripped sluggishly as Baekhyun swung a leg over Sehun’s lap.  There was music playing somewhere – a melody that rose and fell erratically with nonsensical lyrics in a language that Sehun couldn’t understand.  The only thing that made sense to him in that moment was the twirl of Baekhyun’s hips as he lowered down, down, down, _there_.  Perched fully in Sehun’s lap and fingers curled around Sehun’s shoulder, he leaned back so far that his head hung behind him and all Sehun could see was the tantalizing column of his neck, the curve of his jaw.

Beyond Baekhyun, Yixing cut a lazy silhouette in the lush black armchair.  His suit jacket was long gone, leaving him in a rumpled half-unbuttoned white shirt that was rolled up at the sleeves.  He lounged with his legs spread wide and his head cradled against one hand, simply watching the two of them as Baekhyun’s lap dance turned into little more than filthy grinding.

“C’mere,” Sehun heard, a warm voice echoing from somewhere far away as he ran his hands up and down Baekhyun’s thighs.  “Don’t just look.  Touch.”

And then Baekhyun was upright again, crowded against Sehun’s chest as Yixing pressed close behind him.  Lips at Baekhyun’s ear, mouth open the slightest bit, but no kisses.  Yixing looked Sehun in the eye as he curled his fingers around the underside of Baekhyun’s jaw, pressed the pad of his thumb against Baekhyun’s blood red lower lip.  Distantly, Sehun remembered the lipstick, remembered Baekhyun giggling as Sehun smeared a single lonely stripe of it across his mouth.  Where had the lipstick even come from in the first place?  

It didn’t matter now.

Baekhyun drew Yixing’s thumb between his teeth, and Sehun’s last sliver of rational judgement snapped under the weight of Yixing’s gaze on him.  He pushed forward and caught Baekhyun’s lips in a kiss that was awkward with the thumb between them.  But Yixing quickly withdrew his hand so he could brush his fingertips along Sehun’s face, burry them in Sehun’s hair.

There were bubbles in his head, fizzing in his blood, dancing under his skin, making everything feel heavy and electric.  Yixing’s free hand curled over Sehun’s where it was gripping Baekhyun’s now-still hip.  Baekhyun’s mouth was the only thing that was moving, opening sweetly over Sehun’s as their kiss coasted at a pleasantly unhurried pace.

Through it all, Sehun could hear Yixing’s voice praising them for being _so pretty, so perfect, such good boys_.

-

And then, the hangover.  There was never a moment in Sehun’s life in which he hated the sun more than when he woke up to it trying to pry his eyelids open through Yixing’s huge living room windows.

“Ugh, he groaned and tried to burry his face in the pillow under his head.  Except his pillow started to wiggle.  By the time it began stroking his hair, Sehun was starting to get suspicious.  And then it told him, in a voice as light as the chiming of a bell, to _wake up, sleepyhead_.

“I fucking hate you,” he told the pillow, and it laughed.

“Is little baby Sehunnie regretting his life choices?”

Sehun finally opened his eyes.  His cheek was squished against Baekhyun’s thigh and he wasn’t sure he had the strength to lift his head any time soon.

“Can you maybe cover my eyes?” he asked, not caring how pathetic he sounded.

“Aw, you should have brought your sleep mask,” Baekhyun teased, but his slender fingers rested gently over Sehun’s eyes to block out the intrusive sunshine.

“How come you’re not hungover?”

“Oh, I am,” Baekhyun said cheerfully, “But I’ve had the past three hours to start feeling human again.”

Well, that made sense.  “What time is it?”

“Around tenish.  Nearly ten-thirty, I think.”

Sehun hummed thoughtfully.  “So.  Important questions.”

“Shoot.”

“Did any of us get our dicks out last night?”

“Nope,” Baekhyun said, lips smacking.  “No evidence of a single orgasm, at least.  I’m pretty sure we were all too wasted to get it up.”

Sehun cleared his throat.  “And, uh…  Yixing?  That’s his name, right?  Where is he?”

“Left for work,” Baekhyun’s free hand started to play with Sehun’s hair.  “Three hours ago.”

“And you didn’t think to wake me?”

Suddenly the hand was gone from in front of Sehun’s eyes, and he winced at the brightness.  He looked up at Baekhyun, ready to bitch about it, but stopped short at the softness in Baekhyun’s gaze.

“We both agreed you were to cute to wake up,” he said, and Sehun would have smacked him if he had it in him to move.

“Shut up.  One more question,” Sehun took a deep breath.  “Did we make out, or did I imagine that?”

The softness went out of Baekhyun’s face, only to be replaced with an impish grin.  “Oh, that _definitely_ happened.”

Oh.  “And…?”

“And,” Baekhyun brushed Sehun’s messy fringe off his forehead, “If you play your cards right, it might happen again.”

Sehun rolled his eyes.  “Cover my face again, I’m tired of looking at you.”

Baekhyun laughed.  “Now _there’s_ a sentence I’ve never heard before in my life.”

“First time for everything.”  

Sehun grunted as he forced himself to sit upright.  The world tilted and spun a moment before resettling in a slight haze.  The apartment he found himself in felt different in the daylight, now that a lot of the decadent thrill from last night was gone.

“So what is this guy,” Sehun rubbed his eyes, “Yixing, I mean.  A CEO or something?”

“Lawyer,” Baekhyun answered.  “Sits near the tippy-top of the food chain at some big firm, I guess.  Works like crazy.  Older than he looks, too.  Around Junmyeon-hyung’s age, I think.”

Made sense.  “Married?”

Baekhyun glanced around at their surroundings.  “Does this _look_ like the home of someone with a wife?”

It really didn’t.  It was sparsely furnished and minimalistically decorated in a way that was most likely the result of a busy lifestyle rather than an intentional aesthetic choice.  The paintings hanging on the walls were impersonal and generic.  There was a single plant, an out of control aloe vera monstrosity on a small table in front of the window next to the kitchen.  The various broken ends told Sehun that it existed to sooth cooking-related burns more than anything.

What stood out the most was the fairly modest, almost weathered looking upright piano shoved into a far corner of the open floor plan.  It didn’t look like the kind of thing a rich prick would drop cash on just to make himself seem more refined.  Instead, it looked like something that got a lot of use once upon a time, something with sentimental value.

It wasn’t a huge apartment, but it was nice and certainly big enough for one man.  For three of them, it was downright cozy.

“Wait til you see the bathroom,” Baekhyun said.

“I’d rather see the kitchen.”

“I can make that happen.”

Baekhyun led him into the kitchen and sat him down at the small table before toasting him a bagel.  

“Yixing has like, no food here,” he explained as he sat the plate down in front of Sehun, along with a full glass of water.  “I’m pretty sure he orders in every damn night.”

“Coffee,” Sehun groaned.

“That might make your hangover worse.”

“Don’t care.”

The coffee made his hangover worse.  Baekhyun was kind enough not to gloat.

“Follow me, you giant idiot.”

He took Sehun by the wrist and gently lead him out of the kitchen, through the living room, down a blissfully dark hallway, and into a blindingly bright bathroom.  Baekhyun started to draw up a bath in the spacious tub before turning to Sehun with a look of determination.

He stood still and let Baekhyun pull him out of his rumpled clothes, wondering if maybe they should talk about what they did last night before Sehun was completely naked.  But Baekhyun had already seen him naked more times than either of them could count, so he let it happen without a fuss.

Once Baekhyun had peeled off his own clothes, they slipped into the bath together.  Baekhyun got in first and beckoned Sehun to mimic his position, leaving Sehun slumping with his back against Baekhyun’s chest and his head on Baekhyun’s shoulder.  The bath was big, but not quite big enough for this, so he rested his feet up on the sides.

Baekhyun wrapped one arm around his middle and gently combed his fingers through Sehun’s hair with his free hand.  “Now, doesn’t this seem backwards?”

“Yeah,” Sehun muttered.  “Feels nice, though.”

Every once in awhile, Baekhyun had good ideas.  This was one of them.

There was no sound in the room save for the gentle splashing of water when they moved, the soft huff of Baekhyun’s breathing next to Sehun’s ear.  It was rare for Baekhyun to grow so quiet.  Sehun’s hangover must have inspired immense sympathy from him.

“Oh,” Sehun said, disrupting the silence, “By the way, Yixing told me he was the guy who threw your iced coffee all over you that one time.  That’s fucking hilarious.”

“Yeah,” Baekhyun absently ran his fingertips across the surface of the water.  “He felt so bad that he bought me a coffee every time we saw each other in that shop.  I’m pretty sure he started showing up at my usual time on purpose after a while, but I’m not complaining.”

“That was like four months ago,” Sehun said.  “Four months, and you never told me you were friends with a hot lawyer?”

“Oh,” Baekhyun’s voice took on a dangerously amused edge.  “A _hot_ lawyer?”

“Yeah, a hot _ex-stripper_ lawyer.”

The answering laugh bounced in the hollow acoustics of the bathroom.  “How the hell did you find out about that so soon?  It was like, two months of mini coffee dates before I got that info out of him.”

“I dunno,” Sehun said.  “Maybe he just likes me.”

For a moment, Baekhyun was silent.  Which on its own should have raised some red flags, because Baekhyun and silence weren’t often seen together if there was a conversation to be had.

“I think he does, too,” Baekhyun eventually said.  “Like you, I mean.  I’m glad.”

The admission sounded genuine, and Sehun was left confused again.  “I thought you were into him?”

“Maybe I am,” Baekhyun said.  “It’s hard not to be, isn’t it?”

“He was all up on me last night, you know,” Sehun said bluntly, trying to spare Baekhyun the grief of getting involved with a guy who blatantly came onto him.  “I mean, dude, I have no doubt that he’s into you.  But he was also like two seconds away from grabbing my junk at one point.”

“Aw,” Baekhyun cooed, “Is my little Sehunnie trying to warn me away from mean old heartbreakers?  I’m touched, but you don’t have to worry about that.  Not with Yixing.”

Again, Sehun felt kind of lost.  “Whatever you say.”

Baekhyun hummed contentedly.  “I think I’m gonna bum around here all day.  At least until Yixing gets home.  Wanna hang out?”

“Nah, sorry,” Sehun sunk deeper into the water and nestled under Baekhyun’s chin.  “Junmyeon’s getting me dinner later.”

There was a smile in Baekhyun’s voice as he said, “Papa always looks out for his babies.”

“You know it.”

And that was the end of that.  Baekhyun started off on a tangent and Sehun just let himself fall deeper into this growing problem of his.  Baekhyun’s hands were dragging along his forearms, fingers dancing in his hair.  Sehun felt every gentle shift of the body behind his, was hyper aware of Baekhyun’s steady breathing.  Every point of contact between them simmered pleasantly.  Even when the water turned tepid and their skin was wrinkled up, they stayed in the bath a while longer.

The two of them had never fucked before, but even as someone who took off his clothes and occasionally dry humped equally naked people for a living, this bath was the most intimate moment Sehun could ever remember sharing with another person.

-

Junmyeon was, possibly literally, a lifesaver.  As an ex- dancer, he’d worked in some of the worst (and likely, most illegal) clubs out there since he was old enough to score a job.  He had other business ventures across the city, but he operated solely from one of the most prominent legally run clubs in its district.  It was called Exodus, but everyone just knew it as Suho’s.  He ran it under one basic principle: above all, the boys should remain safe and clean.

It was a nice place, really.  About as classy as a strip club could be without being labeled a gentleman’s club or something.  Sehun had cycled through a handful of really shady joints before he got a tip-off about Suho’s and never looked back.

“You got here sooner than I would have expected,” Junmyeon said once they were seated at the restaurant he invited Sehun to.  “Finally move out of that neighborhood and into an apartment you can _actually_ afford?”

The thing about Junmyeon that caught Sehun off guard was that he was, above all, a caretaker.  It wasn’t just Sehun, he looked after all the people in his employ who needed guidance.  And unfortunately, Junmyeon knew Sehun desperately needed guidance.

Sehun had been mistrustful at first.  Never before had an older man taken so much of an interest in him without wanting something in return.  But it quickly became clear that Junmyeon wasn’t like that.

“No, _dad_ ,” Sehun grumbled, and Junmyeon teasingly stepped on his foot under the table.  “I was over at someone else’s house all day, he only lives two stops from here.”

“Two stops?” Junmyeon perked up.  “Must be a nice neighborhood.”

“He’s well off, I guess,” Sehun shrugged.  “A lawyer.”

“Always good to be friends with a lawyer.”

“Yeah,” Sehun attentively scanned the menu so he didn’t have to look up at Junmyeon.  “You know him, apparently.  His name is Yixing.”

“Get out of here,” Junmyeon smiled over his own menu.  “How did you meet him?”

“Baekhyun introduced us.”

Junmyeon’s eyebrows shot up.  “Yixing must have his hands full with you two.  Exactly what kind of friend is he to you?”

And that was the other thing about Junmyeon that threw Sehun off: he had such a pleasant and modest air about him, but he wasn’t simple or meek.  He balanced on the tightrope of politeness and bluntness so perfectly that he had a way of finding out everything about a person without being rude.

“I…  Don’t know,” Sehun answered honestly, thinking back to the hot, heavy gaze that pushed him over the edge and straight into Baekhyun’s mouth.  “I only met him yesterday, it’s hard to tell.”

“Yixing’s a good guy,” Junmyeon assured him.  The subject was dropped when they ordered their food and moved on to something else.

Halfway through dinner, Sehun got a snapchat alert from Baekhyun.  He opened it, expecting it to be something stupid like usual, but was surprised with what he saw.  The picture was a little blurry, like the camera was in motion when it was taken.  Baekhyun’s puckered lips hovered just over the dimple in Yixing’s cheek.  The caption was simple.

_you should swing by later_

Sehun frowned.  “Pose for me.”

Junmyeon immediately winked and flashed a peace sign.  Sehun snapped a picture and captioned it.

_can’t i’m with still with the boss man_

He sent it and they got back to their dinner.  Baekhyun was quiet on the other end for a while until right when Junmyeon was trying to sweet talk Sehun into splitting desert with him.

This one was a picture of Baekhyun winking with his lips puckered again, this time facing the camera.  In the background was Yixing’s blurry figure standing at the sink.

_gonna score a kiss 2nite. No one cn resist the bbh charm for long_

Sehun pouted at his camera.   _Was kissing me not enough?_

He got a reply within the minute.  It was a picture of Yixing this time.  The look of half surprise on his face made Sehun think he wasn’t expecting to have his picture taken.

_don’t be sad sehunee all u need to do is ask fr a kiss & i’ll give it _

Something in his stomach tightened.  He replayed the snap, just because he could.

“Don’t tell me someone’s sending you nudes while you’re eating at a family restaurant,” Junmyeon said.

Sehun could only imagine how red his face was.  He dropped the phone to the table and adamantly defended himself against Junmyeon’s ribbing.  He tried not to think about Baekhyun tucked away in that brightly lit living room, curled up on Yixing’s lap as he begged for a kiss.

Thinking about that would get him nowhere.  But of course, he did anyway, over and over.  If Junmyeon noticed his thoughts distracting him through dinner, he didn’t say anything.


	2. Chapter 2

Three weeks later, Baekhyun finally got that kiss from Yixing.  It happened when he was working diligently at the newest piece of furniture in Yixing’s apartment: a fairly large drafting table.

“CAD is nifty and all that,” he’d said a week or so ago, “But it's always best to draw up physical drafts first.  If I had rom for one at my apartment, I’d have shelled out for a drafting table by now.”

And so, not long after, a brand new drafting table was sitting in Yixing’s living room.  Baekhyun gawked at it with stars in his eyes and promised to pay Yixing back, but Yixing adamantly refused to tell him how much it cost.

“Consider it a gift,” he said, and that was that.

So Baekhyun was working tirelessly towards an architectural engineering degree, hands smeared with graphite and ink as he scribbled out symbols and shapes and abbreviations that made little sense to Sehun when he peeked over Baekhyun’s shoulder.

It was the sixth time Sehun had found himself in Yixing’s apartment.  This place was becoming familiar to him, its impersonal decorations and too-bright lights began to feel warmer and more welcoming.  And then there was Yixing himself – no longer a stranger, but not quite a friend.  There was still an odd tension between them, but it had softened into something less uncomfortable.

By then, Sehun didn’t mind being there at all – even if it wasn’t his intent.  His plans with Lu Han for the day fell through, so Baekhyun dragged him across the city claiming that Yixing missed him.

Whether that was true or not, Sehun had no idea.  Because today Yixing was antsy.  He was waiting to hear from someone who was supposed to call him over an hour ago.  As the evening wore on into nighttime, his restlessness only got worse.  It reached a point where Sehun bodily dragged him to the couch and all but shoved him down.

“What–” Yixing looked puzzled as Sehun walked behind the couch, but sagged in defeat when hands began kneading his shoulders.

“Relax,” Sehun said, digging his thumb into a particularly bad knot.  “Tearing the apartment up isn’t gonna make that guy ring you any sooner.  So just relax.”

Yixing groaned and let his head fall back against the couch.

“Stop moaning,” Baekhyun demanded from across the room.  “It’s so hard to focus when you’re moaning.”

“You should take a break, too, hyung,” Sehun suggested.  “You’ve been working at that forever.”

“Yeah, well,” Baekhyun huffed, “I have a shitload of these due _tomorrow_ , so unless you want to do them for me–”

“How about this,” Yixing said, eyes still closed, “We’ll stay as quiet as we can and when you finish your drafts, you’ll get a reward.”

“Oh?” Baekhyun sounded intrigued.  “What kind of reward.”

“You pick.”

Baekhyun grinned.  “You’re gonna regret giving me that kind of freedom later.”

They lapsed back into silence, Baekhyun grinding through his work and Sehun trying to distract Yixing from driving himself up a wall.  Sehun didn’t mind the inactivity, the almost dull and gentle flow of time.  It wasn’t exciting, but it was comfortable.

“There,” Baekhyun said nearly an hour later, “I’m finished.”

Sehun and Yixing moved to stand on either side of Baekhyun as they looked over his work.  

“I think he deserves that reward,” Sehun said.

Yixing nodded.  “Of course.  Anything you want, Baekhyunnie.”

“Well, if it’s okay with you,” Baekhyun said, “I want a kiss.”

Sehun saw Yixing’s eyes bulge for a second as his own breath caught.  

“A kiss?” Yixing asked, as if he thought he misheard.  “You’re sure?”

“You don’t have to,” Baekhyun assured him.  “But it’s what I want.”

Yixing’s eyes darted to Sehun’s.  The question in them was clear: he was asking for permission.  Whether it was for the sake of Sehun’s comfort or some kind of acknowledgement of Yixing’s victory, Sehun couldn’t tell.

Either way, he found himself nodding once.  That’s all it took for Yixing to move close and press his mouth to Baekhyun’s.  It was a chaste thing, really.  Their mouths stayed closed and it was quick, but not so quick that Sehun didn’t catch how pretty Baekhyun’s smooth pink lips looked underneath Yixing’s fuller ones.  

That was an image he wouldn’t soon forget.

But Yixing pulled away quickly, grinning a bit cheekily when Baekhyun chased him for another kiss.  He didn’t let it happen, opting instead to put his fingers over Baekhyun’s mouth and push him back down in his seat.

“You asked for _a_ kiss,” he reminded him.  “And that’s what you got.”

Baekhyun scowled.  “You’re so _mean_ , hyung.”

Yixing opened his mouth to reply, but was cut short when his cell phone suddenly started ringing in the kitchen.  “That would be the call I was waiting on.   _Finally_.”

He gave Baekhyun a pat on the shoulder, and his knuckles brushed Sehun’s as he walked past.  Sehun was still rooted in place as he watched Baekhyun start to organize his materials.  There was an uncomfortable tickle in his gut that he called jealousy.

(It didn’t feel like jealousy.)

“Don’t look so sour,” Baekhyun said, voice barely a whisper.  “Just remember, you kissed me first.”

It was a small comfort.  Too small to stop Sehun from thinking about the way Baekhyun and Yixing’s mouths fit together so well.  Far too small to stop the deluge of confusion that stemmed from the disappointment when Yixing wouldn’t allow for a second kiss.

-

Autumn in full swing brought a lull to work.  With the first bustling weeks of the university semester bringing students to Suho's over and the heat of summer fading, Sehun’s life felt less urgent and easier to keep up with.  

“Why don’t you come over some time?” Baekhyun suggested after a particularly slow night.  “I think the guys miss you.”

He rarely actually went to Baekhyun’s apartment.  It was a fairly dingy two-bedroom that he shared with two other guys but never bitched about because it was cheap and right down the block from a subway station.  His original roommate, Chanyeol, was a lethargic clerk by day and aspiring guitar legend by night.  The other was Jongdae, a photographer and bartender working for a temp agency who often picked up shifts at Suho’s.

“We’re all starving artists here,” Jongdae had said once, “And I mean literally starving, so if you could pitch in for takeout, that’d be great.”

It wasn’t often that they all got to eat together anymore, what with their schedules being absolute train wrecks.  But it was sunday afternoon, and all of them were off work for the day, so they decided to indulge.

“Do you believe in soulmates?” Baekhyun asked as everyone sat in a circle on the floor, takeout containers strewn between them.

“Uh, _duh_ ,” Chanyeol said.  “Somewhere out there, the person you’re gonna spend the rest of your life with is doing their own thing.  You just gotta find them.”

“Now I’m gonna have to disagree,” Jongdae said.  “The entire concept reeks of predestination.  The individual nature of human beings rides on the fact that we’re capable of free will, which means choosing who we love.”

“Okay, can we not wax philosophical over lunch?” Chanyeol begged.  “It gives me indigestion.”

“That’s probably just the greasy food,” Baekhyun mumbled through a mouthful.

“Bullshit,” Sehun butted in.  “You don’t choose who you love.  But – but at the same time, why can’t you love more than one person?  You loved all your ex’s, right?”

“Well, not _all_ of them,” Chanyeol muttered.

Sehun rolled his eyes.  “Okay, but you know what I mean.”

“Why couldn’t you just have multiple soulmates?” Baekhyun asked.  “A bunch of people, just for you.”

“Because nobody is _just for you_ ,” Jongdae huffed.  “People exist for themselves, and you just happen to love them.”

“Oh no,” Chanyeol clutched his stomach, “He’s still going at it.”

Baekhyun's brow knitted.  “Do you think you could love more than one person at the same time?”

“Ew, no,” Chanyeol said.  “You’d always love one person just a little more.”

“Do we have to measure love?” Jongdae interjected with a grin, obviously playing it up at this point.  “Why can’t we just call it love and be done with it?”

Sehun stabbed his food.  “I think you could do it – love two people the same amount at the same time.  Choosing between them would suck, though.”

“Just date both of them,” Chanyeol said.  “Big pimping.”

“You’re the one who thinks everyone has a single soulmate out there,” Jongdae pointed out.

“I’m just adapting to the hypotheticals here,” Chanyeol said.

So they ate a lot and drank a little and shot the shit until there was no food left and the sky was darkening outside.  Jongdae was called in to work in the early evening.  Sehun and Baekhyun holed up on Baekhyun’s bed with a laptop open and a drama streaming.  Baekhyun laid down with his head pillowed on Sehun’s stomach, complaining about too much comfort food.  

Sehun found nothing to complain about at all.  He never wanted to leave, not with Baekhyun cuddled up to him and the sounds of Chanyeol’s laughter floating out of his room every once in a while.  

But eventually he went home to his own cold studio apartment, with its near-empty minifridge and old posters rolling down the walls.  He was late on rent again.  He was always fucking late on rent.  You’d think a stripper at one of the most prolific clubs in its district would have more money to burn, but Sehun had a habit of burning it on the wrong things.  On top of that, he had his own debts.  There was already this month’s worth of money tucked away in a generic card he mailed back home periodically.  He’d bought the cards in a bulk package because they were the cheapest he could find.

_My Condolences_ is all they said.  Appropriate.

With a sigh, he wrote a rent check, paid his bills, and kissed the concept of disposable income goodbye for a while.  Maybe if he could find a roommate and get out of this neighborhood like Junmyeon was always telling him to, move to somewhere a bit more affordable –

His ringtone cut that train of thought short.  Yixing’s name lit up his home screen, and he answered it without a second thought.

“What’s up, hyung?”

“Evening.  Would you like to maybe come with me to a late dinner tonight?” he asked, cutting straight to it.  “Nothing fancy, but I’d like some company.”

Well, this was unexpected.  “Why don’t you ask Baekhyun?”

It came out of his mouth sounding more petty and bitter than he wanted it to.  But Yixing didn’t call him on it, he just said, “I want to see you tonight.”

It was tempting.  Sehun already gorged himself on takeout, but that was hours ago and there wasn’t much to eat in his apartment that wasn’t dry convenience food.  He wasn’t starving, but he could feel the beginnings of hunger creeping into his gut.

Not to mention, it would be the first time he and Yixing would see each other without Baekhyun acting as a buffer between them.  Sehun would be lying to himself if he said he wasn’t interested in seeing what would come of the two of them alone together.

But he couldn’t, not tonight.

“Sorry, I literally _just_ paid rent and all my bills and got takeout earlier.  Can’t really afford to eat out now.”

“I’ll pay,” Yixing offered.  “I planned to, anyway.”

Sehun wanted to say yes, but he also didn’t want to come off as desperate or exploitative of Yixing’s kindness.  “Really, you don’t have to.”

“Seriously, I’ve got the cash,” Yixing insisted.  “Let me treat you tonight.”

With some remaining reluctance, Sehun agreed and gave up his address.  Yixing picked him up an hour later and drove them far out of his neighborhood, deeper into the city.  Their conversations had a strange ebb and flow.  One moment, Yixing would be speaking animatedly, inviting Sehun to respond.  The next, silence, only the sound of their breathing in the odd intimacy of the front seat.

By the time they arrived at the restaurant Yixing had chosen, Sehun was plenty hungry.  But it turns out _nothing fancy_ didn’t exactly translate to _not expensive_.  

“Don’t you _dare_ look at the prices,” Yixing chided when Sehun made an offhanded comment about them.  “Get whatever you want.”

“Well, if you insist.”

Sehun bought one of the most expensive meals on the menu.  Surprisingly, Yixing looked oddly satisfied by that.  Maybe, Sehun thought, he was the kind of guy who liked to throw his money around.  Humble on the outside but with a secret yearning to show off everything he had.

Sehun sure as hell wouldn’t mind helping him show some of that wealth off.

The food was good and the company was far less awkward that Sehun imagined it might be.  Neither of them were quite as loud and friendly as Baekhyun, but they seemed to grow more and more comfortable with each other as the night went on.

“So, uh,” Sehun started, because he _had_ to ask, “Why’d you invite me out?  Not that I’m complaining.  It just feels kind of random.”

“Oh,” Yixing smiled, “I was just lonely, I suppose.  I realized earlier that it’s been three days since I’ve talked to a single person who wasn’t a client or a co-worker.”

“Wow, that sounds shitty,” Sehun said bluntly.

Yixing breathed a laugh.  “No kidding.  And what have you been up to?  Aside from dancing.”

_Dancing_.  Most guys Sehun had gone out with called it something else.  Shaking his ass.  Working the pole.  That, or they tried to pretend he didn’t even work in a club, adamant to ignore every facet of Sehun’s life that involved his job.  The kind of guy with jealousy issues.  Not that he was going out with Yixing or anything.  It was just nice to have a friend with an insider perspective, someone who understood it.

“Nothing much,” he answered.  “Hung out with Baekhyun and his roommates earlier.”

Yixing hummed.  “And how is our favorite burgeoning architectural genius?”

For some reason, Sehun felt himself shiver at that.   _Our_ favorite.  It was stupid, but he couldn’t help but think of Yixing as some kind of competition – like he was going to take Baekhyun away.  It made it easier to deal with, the way Yixing talked about it.  Like they were both apart of Baekhyun’s life, on equal footing.

“He’s…  The same Baekhyun as always,” Sehun said, and Yixing smiled.

-

After that, hanging out with Yixing, with or without Baekhyun, became more of a regular occurrence.  At first, they would usually go out somewhere, most often to dinner, and then Yixing would drop Sehun or Baekhyun or both off at home.  And then it became nights in, sitting in Yixing’s small but undoubtedly high-class apartment and doing decidedly _not_ high-class things.

Alcohol was usually in attendance.  Sehun and Baekhyun loved anything that could get them piss-drunk and stupid.  Yixing drank brandy, because he was apparently already a walking stereotype of a rich old guy when he was only in his 30s.  He never drank much though, not as much as Baekhyun and Sehun.  He was a surprising lightweight.

They’d order greasy food and make too much noise for the type of people living in Yixing’s building.  Or they’d just sit around in silence and do their own thing.  Baekhyun had a seemingly never ending stream of projects he had to do, and Yixing was the type to bring work home a lot.  Sehun never minded those moments.  They made him feel odd at first, like maybe he should be doing something similar.  Working towards a degree.  Finding a normal nine to five job.  But those feelings passed.

One morning, Sehun awoke with a pounding headache to Baekhyun peering down at him with his hair sticking out in every direction and his eyelids drooping.  They were in Yixing’s bed, stripped down to their underwear and t-shirts.

“What?” He blinked and looked around until he caught sight of the clock.  They both danced the previous night, and it was past noon now.  “Where’s Yixing?”

“The idiot put us to bed,” Baekhyun grumbled, “And slept on the couch.”

Sehun just flopped face first into the pillows and groaned.  “Of course he did.”

So sometimes, they were at Yixing’s apartment.  Quite a bit of time had passed since that initial meeting, and Sehun felt more comfortable coming and going.  Like he would with any other friend who _wasn’t_ notable for being a hot loaded older man.

And sometimes, Yixing showed up at Suho’s.  

Sehun saw him a few times, usually at the bar.  He liked to chat up Baekhyun and seemed to have struck up something of a friendship with Lu Han as well.  But when Sehun caught sight of him one night sitting in a leather lounge chair across from Junmyeon in one of the booths far away from the center stage, he couldn’t resist the urge to saunter over and sit on the arm of the chair.

Yixing looked startled for a minute before recognizing Sehun with a grin and wrapping an arm around his waist.  “Well, hello there.”

“Evening,” Sehun draped an arm around Yixing’s shoulders.  “Fancy seeing you here.”

“I figured I’d drop in and catch up with an old friend,” Yixing’s eyes raked down the length of Sehun’s body.  “What _exactly_ are you wearing?”

“I dunno,” Sehun looked down at himself, naked save for a pair of tiny red shorts and white thigh-high socks.  “But my legs look amazing.”

“Speaking of,” Junmyeon cut in, “Don’t you have things to be doing?”

“Oh, sorry,” Sehun was feeling slutty enough to let his fingers dip under Yixing's collar and stroke the warm skin there, “Did I interrupt a grownup talk?”

“Fine,” Junmyeon shrugged off Sehun’s sass like always, “Miss out on good tips.”

“Here,” Yixing dug out his wallet and slipped some bills into Sehun’s stocking.  “Junmyeon-hyung has a point.  Time is money.”

“You can’t do that,” Sehun said, feeling bold as he gently teased the side of Yixing’s neck with his fingertips.  He didn’t miss the way Yixing shivered a bit.  “I didn’t earn it.”

“Call it a bonus.”

“Hey, come on,” Junmyeon whined, “No spoiling my boys on the clock.”

“Worried about my work ethic?” Sehun asked.  Before Junmyeon could answer, a fourth voice joined in.

“Look alive, Sehunnie,” Jongin said, suddenly right next to them.  “We go on in ten, time to get changed.”

“Fuck, okay, I’ll be backstage in a minute.”

Sehun dropped a kiss on Yixing’s cheek, because that’s the sort of mood he was in, and blew a kiss to Junmyeon as well.

Junmyeon raised his glass.  “I’m sure you’ll dazzle us up there.”

“When do I not?” Sehun asked.  As he got up off of the armrest, Yixing gave him an encouraging slap on the ass.  It was the kind of gesture that usually annoyed him from patrons, even the hot ones.  But as he shot a flirty wink back over his shoulder, he supposed Yixing wasn’t exactly a normal patron.

Sehun and Jongin pulled off their duet pretty well.  It was a fairly athletic routine, lots of pole work in leather trousers.  To the dismay of the audience, none of the seams split this time, but it wasn’t for lack of trying.  The thought of Yixing sitting at the back of the club with a decent view of the stage had Sehun turning up the filth, all but begging Jongin to manhandle him as they pushed and pulled each other through the preplanned steps and drops.

Once it was over, Sehun and Jongin changed again and headed back out on the floor.  Sehun’s eyes immediately went to the booth Junmyeon and Yixing were in earlier, but it was occupied by a different group now.  So he pushed down his disappointment and set out to walk the floor.

Two lapdances later and he was at the bar, begging Lu Han for water so he didn’t have to run all the way back to the locker room for it.  Halfway through the glass and already regretting the water belly he was going to be feeling in a few minutes, he felt fingertips skim the width of his shoulders before Yixing was suddenly leaning against the bar next to him.

Sehun tried not to look too excited as he grinned and said, “I thought you left.”

“Nope,” Yixing said.  “I enjoyed the performance, by the way.”

“How about a one-on-one dance?” Sehun asked, still bold and ready to do anything tonight if it would make Yixing flush.  “On the house.”

“How would your other customers feel if they found out you were giving freebees?”

“They’re not going to find out unless _you_ tell them,” Sehun pressed a finger to Yixing’s lips.  “So, what do you say?”

Yixing grabbed Sehun’s hand and pulled it away from his face, but he didn’t let it go.  No, he threaded their fingers together and simply _held_ it.  “I only came over here to tell you goodbye.”

“No,” Sehun whined, “It’s still early, you can stay.”

“Sehunnie,” Yixing laughed, “It’s a quarter till midnight, I have to go to work tomorrow.”

But Sehun still pouted.  “Okay.  Fine, abandon me.”

“Oh, come here,” Yixing said, and pulled Sehun into a quick hug.  “Goodnight, Sehun.”

“Goodnight, Yixing,” Sehun muttered into his shoulder, inhaling his scent.  When they pulled apart, Yixing’s smile was dimpled.  He nodded once to Lu Han, who’s eyes were a bit wide and stunned, before turning on his heel and heading towards the exit.

“Oh my god,” Lu Han said.  “Oh my _god_.”

Sehun turned to him.  “What?”

Lu Han’s face was etched in confusion.  “I thought that guy was dating Baekhyun?  He’s always in here with Baekhyun acting the same exact way, I swear.  Now I feel a little left out, when’s the hot shady guy going to flirt with _me_?  I could use better tips...”

“He’s not shady, he’s just loaded,” Sehun said, suddenly feeling shy.  “And that’s just how he is with us, I guess.”

“Both of you?”

“Uh.  Yeah?”

“Oh my god,” Lu Han repeated, third time’s a charm, but he was smiling now.  “You guys _have_ to hit that!”

“Okay, that’s enough,” Sehun pushed away from the bar.  “Thanks for the water, hyung.”

He ran off back into the crowd before anything else could be said on the matter.

-

Baekhyun had shit for space in his apartment, so he liked to shove the couch out of the way and come up with routines in Yixing’s living room.  Of course, this turned into Sehun practicing with him.  Which eventually turned into Sehun practicing for Yixing, somehow, on nights where he wasn’t working but Baekhyun was away.  Tending the bar, maybe, or dancing.  Holed up in the library.

But not here, not as Yixing came up behind Sehun close and murmured against his shoulder, “Try it like this.”

And then he pushed and pulled Sehun’s body, showing him how to grind and roll.  There was a hand on Sehun’s stomach, gently pressing him back into the hard line of Yixing’s body as he gave up full control and turned to putty under Yixing’s touch.  The difference in their height felt reversed as Yixing took full control of the way Sehun moved.

Sehun gasped at a particularly unexpected jerk of Yixing’s hips, and Yixing seemed to suddenly realize how compromising their position was.  He stiffened, and with a new hesitation in his voice, asked, “Are you uncomfortable?”

“No,” Sehun blurted before he could think better of it.  He pressed back against Yixing’s body and said.  “You’re still really good at this, you know.”

“I guess it stuck with me,” Yixing murmured, lips brushing the back of Sehun’s neck.

“We should take a picture,” Sehun suggested.  His brain was working at a million miles an hour, trying to figure out how to handle this situation.  It wasn’t like flirting in the club, where there were people all around them and Sehun was on the clock.  Part of him wanted to stop for Baekhyun’s sake, but he wasn’t sure Baekhyun would _want_ him to stop.  “Send it to Baekhyun.  I bet he’d like to see this.”

“Are you kidding?” Yixing laughed, arms falling around Sehun’s waist in a way that made their posture feel more like a hug for a moment.  “I’m pretty sure he’s still stuck on campus in the computer lab.  That would be so mean.”

“He teases me all the time,” Sehun whined.  “Help me get back at him.”

“Alright,” Yixing said, soft and a little sweet.  “Get your phone.”

The picture they sent him had Yixing’s chin perched on Sehun’s shoulder, lips puffed out in a kiss.  It made him look younger, in a way.  More playful. Sehun couldn’t bring himself to do much more than bite his lip and smile.

The camera quality was shit but it included all of the important details: Sehun’s ratty old too-big practice shirt with the neckline so wide you could see the sweat shining on his collar bones and the flush trailing down his chest.  The tiniest peek of Yixing’s shoulder, naked save for the strap of his tank top.

_Dance lessons with the pro._

The response was a simple picture of Baekhyun pouting.

_wtf is wrong w you guys?!?!?! i’m SUFFERING here_

“Cute,” Yixing cooed, and looked back at Sehun.  “Now show me what I taught you.”

Swallowing heavily, Sehun did.

-

Baekhyun got his revenge at around one-thirty that morning.  By then, Sehun was back at his place, limbs heavy and tired from practicing all evening.  Not to mention the fog the impromptu lessons had left in his head.  He couldn’t stop thinking about it, replaying it over and over until he was half-hard in his sweats and too lazy to get up and take care of it in the shower.

That’s when his phone rang.  He answered it when he saw Baekhyun’s name.

“Hey there,” Baekhyun greeted, “You weren’t sleeping, were you?  I’m just now walking back home and I’d feel more comfortable if I had someone to talk to.  You know how it is.”

“Yeah, don’t worry about it,” Sehun rolled over onto his back and willed his cock to behave.  “Finish up whatever you were working on?”

Baekhyun snorted.  “Not even close.  I’m heading in to work on it some more before my classes tomorrow, so I won’t be able to practice at the club.”

“You always miss practice,” Sehun pouted.

“Right?  I’m getting rusty.  Junmyeon’s probably gonna keep me behind the bar for a while.”

“Don’t sound so sad,” Sehun murmured.  He’d started palming his growing erection through his sweats without even noticing it.  “At least you can still work.”

“Yeah,” Baekhyun made a noise that sounded like a soft laugh.  “Too bad I don’t have as much free time as _you_.  I could have gotten my own lessons tonight.”

Oh, so _that’s_ where this conversation was going.  Sehun gave his cock another soft squeeze and prayed Baekhyun was walking fast.  “He’s a good teacher, isn’t he?”

“Absolutely,” Baekhyun said in a way that spoke of past experience.  “Very attentive.”

Sehun hummed.  “He told us he hasn’t danced in years, but I don’t believe him.”

“I know,” Baekhyun’s voice was a bit winded now, like he was walking faster. “We should try to sweet talk him and Junmyeon into arranging a special guest dance one of these nights.”

Sehun could see it, Yixing sweating under the stage lights, body rolling in a way that would have even the other dancers blushing.  

“As nice as that would be,” he swallowed a bit thickly, “I don’t think it’s the best idea for a prestigious lawyer to do a stripping routine in one of the most popular clubs in the district.”

A peal of laughter crackled down the phone line.  “Yeah, you might be right.  A private dance, then.  Just for you and me.  How’s that sound?”

After tonight, it was easy to picture.

“I think it would take some convincing, though,” Baekhyun added when Sehun stayed quiet.  “I think we should give him something in return – a dance from the two of us.”

_Why_ , Sehun wanted to scream, _why are you trying to get me worked up over the guy you want to date?  What the fuck are you doing to me?_

Instead, he asked, “Do you think he would like that?”

“Of course he would,” Baekhyun said.  Sehun wondered if he was just imagining how low his voice had gone, hearing things that weren’t there out of wishful thinking.  “He comes to Suho’s sometimes, did you know that?  He shows up at the bar when I’m working every once in awhile.  He never watches dances unless you’re up on stage, though.”

Sehun’s toes curled.  “Shut up.”

“I’m serious,” Baekhyun said earnestly  “It’s the same thing every night.  He orders a single drink and ignores everyone around him but me, or sometimes Lu Han if he’s working the bar, too.  And then you go on and it’s like nobody could get his attention even if the fucking building caught on fire.”

There were fingers creeping under Sehun’s waistband, trailing through the well-groomed hair there.  “You’re just stroking my ego.”

“Believe what you want,” Baekhyun said. “But I’m telling you, he loves it.  He’d lose his mind if we danced for him.”

God, but Sehun would kill to see that.  Professional Yixing, reserved Yixing, composed Yixing breaking down at just the sight of them.  Would he clench his hands at his side, dig his fingernails into his knee as he leaned forward to get a closer look?  Or maybe he would be handsy.  The minute they were within his reach, he’d pull them into his lap and refuse to let them go.

"Sehun?” Baekhyun’s voice was gentle.  “Still there?”

“Yeah,” Sehun breathed, remembering that this call was supposed to keep Baekhyun company on his walk home in the middle of the night.  “Just a little tired.”

For a few heartbeats, all Sehun could hear from the other side was cars passing by, Baekhyun’s steady breathing.  He was so close to finally giving in and jerking off when Baekhyun asked, “You’re thinking about it, aren’t you?”

Sehun decided to play stupid.  “Thinking about what?”

“Don’t play stupid.”

Shit.

“Maybe I am,” Sehun confessed.

“Tell me about your lesson,” Baekhyun said, and it was hard to judge his tone.

“Uh,” Sehun pinched his eyes shut.  “Yixing said that I should be more confident.  More – uh.  Energetic.  He said I hold back, so he showed me how to let loose a little, I guess.”

“I see.  And how did he do that?”

Sehun swallowed as he recalled the memory from just a few hours ago, fingertips just barely brushing the head of his cock.  “He pressed up behind me and made me move with him while he danced.”

“Ah,” Baekhyun sighed appreciatively.  “The hands-on approach.”

“Yeah,” Sehun managed a small embarrassed laugh.  “You could say that.”

“What did it feel like?”

“It felt,” Sehun cupped himself fully and tried not to roll his hips, “Weird, at first.  Since he’s shorter than me.  But I don’t think it was hard for him to make me do what he wanted.”

“I could imagine him manhandling you,” Baekhyun said, and Sehun had to bite his lip to keep from making a noise.   _Manhandling_ , he liked the sound of that.  Yixing pushing and pulling him around, teaching Sehun how he liked it, easily manipulating every curve and plane of Sehun’s body until he was right where Yixing wanted him.

He could imagine Baekhyun directing him.   _Bend him over, hyung.  Pull his hair.  Make his back arch.  Hold his hands down.  Kick his legs apart.  Make him whine and beg.  He’s so pretty when he begs._  And Yixing never denied Baekhyun anything.

“You’re thinking about it now,” Baekhyun said after another period of silence, voice smug and hushed like he was worried about someone overhearing him.  “Are you touching yourself, Sehunnie?”

Sehun whimpered, a noise so small it was likely that Baekhyun didn’t even hear it.  “What would you do if I was?”

“I’d ask you if Yixing got hard,” Baekhyun said, practically whispering into the receiver and making Sehun strain to hear him.  “Is that what you’re thinking about?”

It wasn’t before, but it sure as fuck was, now.  His voice shook as he breathed, “No.”

“Too bad,” Baekhyun said.

It really fucking was.  The fantasy was kind of stupid, Sehun knew, but that didn’t stop him from thinking about what it would be like to feel Yixing’s hardness pressing against his ass as they danced, wondered how Yixing would react.  Would he be embarrassed, ignore it, pretend it wasn’t happening?

Sehun hoped not.  In Sehun’s head, Yixing would pull him closer, grind against his ass, leave Sehun trembling at the promise of being fucked.

It was quiet on the other end, Sehun realized as he moved his hand over his cock.  The sounds of the city were gone, no cars driving past on the wet streets, no occasional voices of other pedestrians having their own conversations over the phone, not even the distinct rhythm of Baekhyun’s breathing hitching subtly with each step he took.

Sehun had to ask.  “How long have you been home?”

“Thanks for talking to me on the walk back,” Baekhyun blurted out.  “Goodnight, Sehunnie.”

The line went dead, and Sehun groaned.  

-

The next time they worked a routine together was wild.

Everything was situation normal until they got to a part where Baekhyun was supposed to face Sehun, wrap an arm around his shoulders, do some body rolls, and then fuck off to the other side of the stage.

Instead, Baekhyun winked at some of the people around the base of the stage, and dropped straight to his knees.

It took all of Sehun’s willpower not to moan.

Baekhyun was writhing below him, mouth inches from his cock as he moved like he was bouncing on a dick.  His knees were spread wide and his hands were roaming up and down Sehun’s thighs.  Sehun was helpless to do much more than roll his hips and bury his hands in Baekhyun’s hair.  He wasn’t prepared to do any improvisation in this routine.

It was rare for Sehun to get turned on during a dance anymore.  His first month was nothing but awkward onstage boners, but he’d done this so often that it was almost mechanical to him at this point, something as erotic as filing paperwork.  But sometimes, certain things still got to him.

This was one of those things.

Baekhyun used the fingers he had hooked in Sehun’s dangerously low-sitting trousers as leverage to pull himself upwards.  He stood up on his tiptoes and dragged his mouth across Sehun’s cheek in full view of the audience.

“Let loose a little,” he shouted in Sehun’s ear.  “Show me what Yixing-hyung taught you.”

And then he turned around and circled his ass against Sehun’s dick, slowly bending in half as he did.  It was obscene and filthy and completely off-script, but the crowd was loving it.  Sehun had no choice but to play along as he curled his fingers around Baekhyun’s shoulder and moved in a way that he was hoping was on beat.

Easier said than done.  His brain was telling him to fuck, not dance.

He pulled Baekhyun upright, mimicking the position he and Yixing were in just a few nights ago.  Baekhyun threw his head back against Sehun’s shoulder as their bodies rolled together, hands roaming.  Sehun still had his shirt on, although it was unbuttoned, but Baekhyun’s chest was bare.  

Baekhyun _had_ to have felt the growing hardness of his dick as they moved together and Sehun’s hands wandered.  Two fingers would up in Baekhyun’s mouth as the other hand trailed down his chest, resting on his lower abdomen with fingers splayed wide.

The voices of the club became white noise and the music melted into nothing more than the vibrations of the bass shaking him up to his knees.  It was easier to improvise the longer the song went on, as he got used to the way Baekhyun rocked against him.  They both gold bolder, shoving each other around, pushing into each other’s space, tangling fingers in hair and sweating and panting in a way that was from more than just dancing.

The last song spiraled to an end, and the completely fucked up routine finished with it.  Sehun managed to keep from awkwardly hiding his boner until he and Baekhyun were backstage.  Then all bets were off as he crossed his hands in front of his crotch and scurried down the hallway, giggling as Baekhyun raced after him, shouting something about how he was _such a good student_.

Inside the locker room, Jongin was hastily pulling on the clothes he’d just be pulling back off in about ten minutes during his solo dance.   Zitao ran in through another door, the one that branched out into the private rooms, wiping at his sweat-slicked back with a washcloth and breathing almost as hard as Sehun as he rooted around in his duffle for a water bottle.

Minseok, the smug bastard, was just standing still with his arms crossed and a smirk on his face.  “You really gave them a show, didn’t you?”

“Isn’t that our job?” Baekhyun said, a matching smirk dancing on his lips.

“Yeah,” Minseok gestured to Sehun.  “And you did so well that Sehunnie over there should probably tip you right now.”

“Shut up,” Sehun hissed through his embarrassment as everyone laughed and he willed his dick to calm down.  “This hasn’t happened in forever.”

“Pour some cold water down your pants or something,” Jongin said.  “The night is still young.”

The clearing of a throat echoed through the room, and they all stopped to turn towards the sound.

“Uh-oh,” Jongin nodded towards the door where Junmyeon was leaning against the frame with his own smirk sitting on his lips.  Everyone was fucking smirking tonight.  “I bet papa’s got some choice words for you two.”

“You boys mind telling me what the hell you just did on my stage?”

“Oh, I think we _all_ know what they did,” Minseok said, absolutely loving this.

“Sorry we went off script,” Baekhyun said, without looking sorry at all.  “A little improvising never hurt anyone.”

“Tell that to Sehun,” Junmyeon teased.  “Just give us a fair warning the next time you go into a pornographic freestyle.”

“We’re _strippers_!” Baekhyun protested.  He yelped when Zitao snapped a towel at his ass on his way to the showers, and Junmyeon just shook his head.

“Minseok, I have someone at table five asking you for a dance.”

“Same people from earlier?” Minseok asked.

“Yep,” Junmyeon said as he turned to leave.  “I think that little routine of Baekhyun and Sehun’s got the club a bit worked up.”

“Out in a minute!” Minseok turned and started rooting through his locker.

“Alright,” Jongin checked himself out in a mirror one last time before jogging to the stage door, “I gotta head out.  Wish me luck!”

“They’re all warmed up,” Baekhyun shouted to his retreating back.  “You just gotta bring ‘em home!”

When Jongin disappeared and Minseok ran out of the locker room to attend to his table, Sehun turned back to the row of lockers serving as a wardrobe to try to find the outfit he was supposed to be changing into.  It was only a second before he felt fingertips creeping along his side.

“Hey,” Baekhyun perched his chin on Sehun’s shoulder, “I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable out there.”

Sehun cleared his throat and turned to face Baekhyun.  All that filthy sluttiness in his eyes was gone, replaced with a genuine softness.

“I don’t know if uncomfortable is the right word,” Sehun said.  “But I didn’t mind, not really.”

Baekhyun looked relieved.  “Good.  I know I can be a bit much sometimes, but–”

“Guys!” Zitao shouted as he ran out of the showers, toweling his hair off, “We’re on the clock, come on!”

“Yeah, yeah,” Baekhyun rolled his eyes.  “Let’s just get changed.”

“Yeah,” Sehun said.  And that was that.

-

People didn’t often ask Sehun for serious favors.  It’s not that he wasn’t capable or anything, it had more to do with the fact that most of his friends were older than him.  They doted on him, really, and it didn’t occur to people to burden their little Sehunnie by asking for his help.  So when Sehun agreed to run over to Yixing’s apartment to help with a “mini-emergency” at nine-thirty in the evening one night, he really wasn’t expecting to be greeted to the sight of Yixing holding a key in one hand and cash in the other.

“I’m being sent to Hanoi for six days,” he explained, “And I need a house-sitter for the week on really short notice.  Interested?”

“Uh,” Sehun glanced around the living room.  He couldn’t imagine anything in need of maintenance aside from maybe the aloe plant that got watered once every two weeks at best.  “What would you need me to do?”

“Nothing much,” Yixing said.  “I just don’t like the idea of it being empty for a week.  Keep it warm for me?”

“Sure, but you don’t have to pay me to sit around in a nice apartment for a week.  If anything, I feel like I should be paying _you_.”

“It would make _me_ feel better,” Yixing slipped the key into Sehun’s hand and shoved the money into his pants pocket.  “I don’t care if you have anyone over, just try not to trash the place, please?”

“Wouldn’t dare,” Sehun promised.

Yixing flew out the next day, while Sehun was dancing and Baekhyun was behind the bar.  They were both a little bitchy about not being able to see him off, so they hopped on the subway and headed straight to Yixing’s apartment after work.  They showered together and fell into Yixing’s bed without even having to discuss it.

The week was uneventful.  Sehun only went back to his apartment once to grab some clothes.  He only saw Baekhyun twice after the first night, once behind the bar on a weeknight so slow that Sehun spent most of it on a barstool fruitlessly flirting with uninterested regulars instead of giving lap dances.  The other time was when Baekhyun showed up at Yixing’s apartment.

“I missed your beautiful face,” he cooed, pinching Sehun’s cheeks.  Sehun slapped his hands away and ushered him inside.

“I bet you also missed Yixing’s wifi.”

“Yeah,” he admitted, dropping his backpack on the couch and kicking his feet up.  “That too.”

For a while, Baekhyun actually did his homework.  But before long, he and Sehun were wrapped in blankets and curled up together on the couch with a movie marathon queued up on Baekhyun’s laptop.  After a few hours, the screen suddenly minimized as a Skype call came through.

Baekhyun gasped and answered it immediately.  “Yixing-hyung!”

“Evening, boys,” he said.  There were shadows under his eyes and he looked a bit worn out, but he was smiling.  “I see you haven’t burned down my apartment complex yet.”

The image quality was horrible and the lag made the distance between them seem that much greater, but it was good to see him nonetheless.  The call was short – only about fifteen minutes – but it still left both Baekhyun and Sehun giddy.

The rest of the week was a monotonous blur.  He worked, he slept, he met Chanyeol for lunch, he saw distressingly little of Baekhyun.  He wanted to stay up to greet Yixing when he was due to arrive at around 5 am, but work was killer that night and all he could do was stumble into the shower and then collapse in bed.

Not much later, he was jolted awake to the feeling of the bed dipping when it was still mostly dark out, only the deepest purples and blues visible in the early morning sky.  His first thought was utter anguish: someone broke in on the last fucking night.  But soon he was being shushed by a familiar voice that had his nerves relaxing quickly.

“It’s just me,” Yixing soothed, voice low and comforting.  “You don’t have to move, but do you mind if I sleep here for a while?  I’m beat.”

“Yeah,” Sehun rolled over a bit and held the covers up.  Yixing slipped under, and Sehun was back asleep before he even settled.

-

When Sehun awoke again, he could have mistaken the hazy memory of those few minutes that morning as a dream if Yixing wasn’t lying right next to him.  It dawned on him that this was the first he’d ever seen him like this before – unguarded in sleep.  Yixing was always out the door before Sehun was even awake during the few times Sehun stayed over at the apartment.

What Sehun saw was different from the immaculate image Yixing presented in the daylight.  His hair was complete chaos, rebelling against the natural part and sticking to his forehead in disorderly strands.  The way his face was pressed into the pillow smooshed the softness of his lips into a pout.

It was adorable.

In his sleep-induced fog, Sehun finally let himself admit that he had somehow fallen for Yixing in the last few months.  He thought about Baekhyun, who was so blatantly mooning after Yixing that this felt like some kind of breach in trust.  A betrayal.  And what he felt for Baekhyun, the constantly mounting attraction he’d trained himself to ignore, that wasn’t gone, either.  If anything, it was stronger than ever.

God, what a clusterfuck this had become.

Sehun didn’t want to dwell on it, not in the grey light of the early morning.  Instead, he shifted slightly, until his cheek was pressed to Yixing’s shoulder and his fingers curled delicately around Yixing’s wrist.

Some time later, maybe an hour, maybe more, he felt the exact moment that Yixing woke up.  His breathing took on a different tempo, less relaxed and gentle, more measured and firm.  He stiffened too, just a bit, before making a tiny noise in the back of his throat and curling closer to Sehun.

Sehun didn’t know if he was convincingly feigning sleep or not.  But Yixing didn’t pull away from him, not immediately.  He was close enough that his breath fanned against Sehun’s forehead, stirring his bangs.  When he finally got up, the motion was gentle and slow, and he pulled the covers up over Sehun before he left.

Later, when Sehun tried to give the apartment key back, Yixing told him to keep it.


	3. Chapter 3

And then, Baekhyun kissed Sehun again.

They weren’t drunk this time.  There was some wine involved, but hardly enough to even get them buzzed.  Yixing excused himself to the bathroom, leaving Baekhyun and Sehun lounging on the couch together.  That’s when Baekhyun chose to strike.

“Can I ask you a serious question?” He pointed at Sehun with the hand that was still holding his wine glass.  “Really serious.  And you have to answer seriously, too.  I mean, stick-a-needle-in-my-eye serious.”

“Uh,” Sehun felt a heaviness descend upon him, and he didn’t like it, “Sure.”

“Are you into me?  I mean – you know what I mean.”

Sehun shifted in his seat.  “Is this because of that night we made out?”

“No,” Baekhyun set his wine glass down on the floor and leaned closer to Sehun.  “It’s because of our entire friendship.”

“I’m not friends with you just to get in your pants,” Sehun fidgeted uncomfortably, “If that’s what you think.”

“It’s not,” Baekhyun shrugged.  “But do you anyway?”

“Do I?”

“Want to get into my pants.”

And then Yixing strolled back into the living room.  The tension was palpable at that point, and he picked up on it before he even made it to the couch.

“Uh,” he pointed back down the hallway, “I can go pee again if you two need a minute–”

“ _Actually_ ,” Baekhyun cut in, “It was Yixing here who suggested I bring this up.”

Yixing buried his face in his hands and muttered something that sounded like a forlorn curse.

Sehun was lost.  “I thought you two…”

“I’m gonna be blunt with you,” Baekhyun said.  “At first, I was using Yixing as a buffer between us, because I couldn’t tell if you were even down to fuck, and he’s better at reading people instead of just reading what he wants to see.  Jongin told me that was one of my flaws, so–”

“You were _using–_ ” Sehun sputtered, “That’s not very nice!”

“I didn’t mind,” Yixing piped up.

“Well,” Baekhyun continued, “It was sort of working before things got complicated.”

“Yeah,” Sehun’s gaze darted between them, “No shit.”

“I couldn’t tell if you were into me,” Baekhyun continued, “But I _could_ tell you were into Yixing–”

Flushing so hard he felt dizzy, Sehun tried to stutter out an embarrassed denial.  But nothing more substantial than a series of tiny groans came out.

“– And I mean, I can’t blame you at all.  Because I… Kind of…  Fell for him, too.  But it was annoying because I still…”

Baekhyun’s voice grew impossibly small as it trailed off.  He reached out with a shyness Sehun would have thought him incapable of and took Sehun’s hand in the gentlest grip.

“I still… Like you.  A lot.”

“What Baekhyun is trying to get at,” Yixing said, moving to sit on Sehun’s other side, “Is that he wants a relationship.  With both of us.”

Sehun blinked.  “Both… Of us?”

“If you’re not okay with that, it’s fine!” Baekhyun blurted out.  “I get it, it’s not exactly normal.  And maybe I’m greedy, and this is all wrong, and it might just fall apart, but – but Yixing seems to think that you’re into me, too?”

Sehun’s head was spinning.  He turned to look at Yixing. “And _you’re_ okay with this?”

Something about Yixing, maybe the seemingly effortless class about him, or the outward facade self-assuredness that rarely cracked, gave Sehun the impression that he was the possessive type.  The kind of man who liked to show off, but not share.  And this was sharing to an extreme that Sehun never really considered he’d be apart of.

But Yixing just shrugged.  “I’ve never done anything like this before.  But I like you – _both_ of you.  And I think we could make it work if you do.”

“Oh,” Sehun said.  He wasn’t really sure what else there was to say, but there were two pairs of eyes on him anxiously awaiting some kind of answer.  “I guess…  Why not give it a try?”

Baekhyun’s face lit up.  “You mean it?”

“Yeah,” Sehun’s stomach was dancing, and his heart was hammering, and he felt kind of sick – but not in a bad way.  Excitement, confusion, maybe a hint of apprehension, but more than anything there was a curious sort of pleasure that he didn’t quite understand.  “I mean, you’re going to have to give me some time to get used to this.  But yeah, I’m game.”

Suddenly, he had a lap full of Baekhyun and arms around his neck.

“I was so scared that even asking was going to ruin everything,” Baekhyun muttered into his shoulder.  “I thought I was gonna fuck everything up.”

“Well, you didn’t,” Sehun said, shooting a wink to Yixing over Baekhyun’s shoulder.  “We’re cool, see?”

Baekhyun pulled back just enough to get up in Sehun’s face, but stopped short.

“Is it okay if I kiss you?” he asked, eyes hopeful.

For some reason, that had Sehun blushing.  “Sure.”

Kissing Baekhyun when he was sober was a lot like kissing Baekhyun when he was shitfaced.  The actual kiss was less sloppy, but all the itchy excitement and dizziness from last time came rushing back.  It was one peck, and then another.  Simple, chaste.  But Sehun still felt like he’d just been given something beyond measure.

“Thank you,” Baekhyun said, and Sehun wasn’t entirely sure what he was being thanked for in that moment.

Yixing didn’t ask for a kiss, and Sehun didn’t give him one.  What he gave him instead was the press of their palms together, warm and sturdy.  The acknowledgement of a beginning.

-

Things were, admittedly, really fucking weird at first.  Baekhyun seemed entirely unfazed by the less than conventional arrangement they’d struck up, but Sehun and Yixing were both much more unsure about how things were going to work.  It wasn’t like the tension when the had first met and weren’t sure how the other felt about Baekhyun.  Instead, it was almost awkward, and seeing Yixing’s typical confidence wavering was sort of alarming.

It was so easy before, to touch and tease and flirt.  But now that there was something tangible between them, something understood, it felt different.  If something was real, that something could break.  And nobody wanted this to break.

Gradually, though, things started to feel normal.  

Baekhyun seemed to spend a lot of nights over at Yixing’s, sleeping in his bed.  When Sehun also slept over, they always did it the same way: Baekhyun in the middle, with Sehun and Yixing on either side of him.  Except one morning, Sehun awoke with Baekhyun spooned up behind him and Yixing pressed close to his side.

“I got up in the middle of the night to pee,” Baekhyun explained when Sehun questioned him about it, much later.  “And when I came back you two just looked so cute next to each other that I didn’t want to get in the middle of it.”

Sex, Sehun thought, was undoubtedly going to be complicated and strange.  He didn’t know what would be considered infidelity, and the logistics of a threesome seemed daunting.  Simply put, he was really nervous.  That was, until Baekhyun dragged him into the shower at nine a.m. and started taking care of his morning wood for him.

“Is this okay?”  Baekhyun asked, pressing close.  Sehun just bit his lip and tried to focus all of his energy on not slipping and falling.  Easier said than done, with Baekhyun’s hands stroking over his cock and turning his legs to jelly.

“Do you see me complaining?” Sehun asked, bracing his hands on Baekhyun’s shoulders and rolling his hips.  Baekhyun felt so small in his arms as he mouthed at Sehun’s collar bones.  Sehun just wanted to lift him up and shove him against the wall of the shower, fuck into him so hard that Yixing’s neighbors would file a noise complaint.

But he didn’t.  He just let Baekhyun unravel him with his deft fingers.

“I sucked Yixing off the other day, by the way,” Baekhyun said out of nowhere, loud over the spray of the shower.  “Thought you might want to know.”

“You don’t have to tell me,” Sehun said, eyes pinched shut and legs trembling.

“And what if I want to?”

Baekhyun did, in great detail.  Sehun came unusually hard for a hand job.

-

The first time Yixing kissed Sehun happened so quickly and naturally that they were both startled for a moment.  He showed up at home right before sundown, Baekhyun working on something for a class and Sehun preparing to leave for Suho’s.  They both rose to greet him at the door.  He toed his shoes off, set his briefcase down, kissed Baekhyun’s forehead, and then turned his head a fraction and leaned up to kiss Sehun square on the mouth.  Sehun was too surprised to do anything more than gape.

And then, Yixing apologized.

“I should have asked,” he stammered, “I’m sorry if I – if you didn’t want–”

“Yixing-hyung,” Sehun moved closer and leaned down, gently knocking their foreheads together.  In that moment, the height difference between them felt more pronounced as he seemed to tower over the other man.  “It’s okay.”

Baekhyun had moved to perch his chin on Sehun’s shoulder, whispering in his ear to _kiss him kiss him kiss him kiss him_.

Sehun did.

-

Kisses became common, after that.  More natural between all three of them.  Small pecks before going to bed, and then again after waking up.  Quick kisses stolen in the locker room at Suho’s, in the rare moments when it was deserted except for them.  Slow kisses in Yixing’s front seat, after picking Sehun up at his apartment for dinner, only the moonlight watching.  Walking in on Baekhyun and Yixing nose to nose, cheeks red, mouths redder.  

They did love their kisses.

Kisses before leaving for work.  Kisses over coffee, wrinkling their noses and complaining about morning breath.  And in one particularly memorable moment, kisses blown to him from across the couch when he glanced up with his eyebrow cocked at the way Baekhyun was rubbing his feet down Sehun’s thigh.

“Are you trying to give me a footjob or something?

Baekhyun grinned.  “Maybe.”

“Nice try,” Sehun grabbed Baekhyun’s ankles and shoved him away, “But I’m more of a hands guy.”

Baekhyun was at his side in a second, trailing delicate fingers down his chest.  “I think I can work with that.”

“Baekhyun,” Sehun giggled, writhing a bit under the touch, “What’s gotten into you?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Baekhyun’s hand fell to Sehun’s upper thigh.  “I’m horny.”

Oh.

“That’s awfully…  Forward.”

“Yep,” Baekhyun said, groping Sehun through the front of his trousers.  “Got a problem with that?”

“No,” Sehun sighed, and turned Baekhyun’s chin towards him.  “Come here.”

Kissing Baekhyun was nice.  Kissing Baekhyun while Baekhyun was feeling him up was _really_ nice.  He got a different edge to him when he was all wound up, sinking his teeth into Sehun’s lower lip, pushing hard into his space, raking fingernails across his skin.  Only a moment after Sehun finally had enough and dragged Baekhyun into his lap, the door swung open.

At first, Yixing didn’t seem to notice them.  He was talking on the phone, hastily trying to end the call, when he looked up.

“I have to go,” he blurted out, and hung up.  For a moment, he just stood by the door, staring.  “Am I interrupting?”

“We’re gonna go fuck,” Baekhyun said over his shoulder.  “Wanna join us?”

As a stripper, Sehun really shouldn’t have blushed as hard as he did at that.  He hid his face in Baekhyun’s shoulder and tried to quell the self-conscious laughter that was bubbling up in him.

“Oh?” Yixing’s eyebrow quirked.  “Well, how can I say no to that?  Into the bedroom, boys.  I don’t want stains on my couch.  I’ll be there in a minute.”

Sehun and Baekhyun practically tripped over each other in their haste to obey.  They pulled each other down the hallway, giggling a bit as they tumbled into Yixing’s large bed and started yanking each other’s clothes off.  They got distracted about halfway through, with Baekhyun down to his boxers and one leg of Sehun’s trousers still on, when Baekhyun kissed him.

It was easy to forget the rest of the world was still moving around them when Baekhyun’s tongue slipped into Sehun’s mouth.  He kissed in a way that was surprisingly dominating, just a little bit bossy, and Sehun didn’t mind being bossed around.  Their hands wandered, pulling at their remaining clothes with a distracted sluggishness.

They only broke apart when they heard footsteps.  Yixing strolled in, looking perfectly composed with his clothes still on.  He didn’t say a word as they tried to entice him to the bed.  He just ignored them with a smile playing on his lips as he pulled off his tie and folded it neatly on top of his dresser.

“You’re such an awful tease, hyung,” Baekhyun said, one hand trailing down Sehun’s torso in a way that was probably supposed to tempt Yixing to come closer.  “We’ve put on so many shows for you, and you won’t even pay any attention to us.”

“Patience,” he said, and Baekhyun snorted.

“We’ve been patient forever,” he whined.  “How can you resist this?”

“Maybe we don’t need him,” Sehun said with a wink.  “We’re just fine on our own.”

Baekhyun’s pout slowly receded until he seemed to understand what Sehun was trying to do.  “Yeah,” he grinned, “We don’t need him.”

And then Baekhyun was kissing Sehun again, palming him through his boxers as Sehun tried to kick his pants the rest of the way off.  He was well on his way to full hardness by the time Baekhyun’s hand dipped below his waistband and he broke away with a moan.

When he did, he caught sight of Yixing slowly kneeling on the bed behind Baekhyun, finger at his lips.  Sehun sucked his mouth closed and tried not to let anything show on his face as Yixing pounced, startling Baekhyun as he attacked his neck with kisses and let his fingers dance down his sides.  Baekhyun shrieked out a shrill giggle and tried to escape, but Sehun held him him in place.

“You asshole!” Baekhyun wriggled fruitlessly between them.  “Stop being so cute, I’m getting ready to suck Sehun’s dick here!”

“Oh, don’t let me stop you,” Yixing murmured into the space under his ear.  “Let’s see you do it, then.”

The mood shifted back again, just as quickly as before.  Baekhyun was panting a bit from his sudden unexpected laughing fit, face flushed and eyes bright.  Yixing was still dressed, wearing his white button up with the sleeves pushed to his elbows.  He draped naturally over Baekhyun’s back.  Comfortably.  They fit well together, looked good together.

And somehow, Sehun was lucky enough to have both of them like this.

One of Baekhyun’s fingers hooked in the elastic of Sehun’s boxers as he pulled them down a bit and peeked inside.  His tongue poked out as he said, “Our little Sehunnie isn’t so little.”

Sehun rolled his eyes while Yixing went for the more direct approach of leaning over Baekhyun’s body and tugging Sehun’s boxers straight down to the middle of his thighs.

“No he is not,” Yixing said appreciatively, giving Sehun’s cock a stroke.  “Are you sure you’re going to be able to fit all of that in your mouth?”

“Uh, no,” Baekhyun deadpanned.  “That’s why I have hands.”

Sehun whimpered a bit as Yixing twisted his thumb just right over the head of his cock.  “Well,” Yixing said.  “Go on then.”

He pulled his hand away and Baekhyun wasted no time replacing it with his lips.  Soft at first, just a tease that had Sehun’s breath catching and Yixing’s expression sharpening.  He kissed his way down Sehun’s cock and put on quite the show for the two sets of eyes watching him diligently.

When he finally took the head in his mouth and started to sink downward, Sehun collapsed back on his elbows.  His eyes were pinched shut, but he opened them again when he threaded his fingers through Baekhyun’s hair and unexpectedly ran into something.

Yixing was still leaning over Baekhyun, watching him work over Sehun’s cock.  One hand was stroking through his hair, fingers overlapping with Sehun’s.  The other was trailing down his back, dipping under the waistband of his boxers.  He only looked away long enough to pull those down and off.

Sehun couldn’t tear his eyes away from Yixing’s hand kneading Baekhyun’s ass, not even when Yixing said, “Come up for air a minute, Baekhyun.”

Baekhyun pulled back with an audible pop.  “Mmm,” he moaned, licking his lips.  “You summoned me?”

“How do you want to do this?” Yixing asked, fingers dipping so low that Sehun could tell he was teasing Baekhyun’s hole.

Baekhyun’s eyes slid closed.  “Unless he had any objections, I was gonna ride Sehun.”

_Fuck_.  Yixing’s eyes darted to Sehun’s.  “And _do_ you have any objections?”

Sehun shook his head.

“Good,” Yixing said, “Because I want to watch that.  Baekhyun, move up to straddle Sehun, if you would.”

Baekhyun moved to obey immediately, and something about that was so hot to Sehun, the idea that Yixing just waltzed in here and easily took control of the entire situation.  He disappeared by the bedside for a minute before coming back with a bottle of lube.  Baekhyun eagerly reached for it, but Yixing held it away from him.

“Let me,” he insisted.  “I want to see what makes you feel good, want Sehunnie to see it, too.”

Baekhyun melted at that, slumping down against Sehun as the sound of the cap opening made him startle a bit.  Sehun couldn’t handle being so close to Baekhyun without tasting.

“Come here,” he breathed, pulling Baekhyun down into a kiss.  He felt Baekhyun moving above him, swaying his ass impatiently as he braced himself on his knees.  Sehun raked his fingernails down Baekhyun’s back, grabbing a handful of his ass.

It was obvious when Yixing made the first press into Baekhyun, because Baekhyun bucked backwards, breaking the kiss with a sweet gasp.  Yixing pulled Baekhyun upright, so he was kneeling with his back to Yixing’s chest, head tilted and begging for a kiss on the neck.  Without even thinking about it, Sehun’s hands moved to his cock, stroking it as Yixing fingered him open.

Sehun could see that, too, just a little bit.  The flash of Yixing’s knuckle disappearing inside of Baekhyun, the gentle press of the second finger not too long after.

“How does he look, Sehun?” Yixing asked, fingers pumping faster.  By now, Baekhyun was sweating, lids heavy and mouth gaping the slightest bit as his tongue pressed between his teeth.  He winced once, and moaned.

“Pretty,” is all Sehun could find the presence of mind to say at first.  “He’s so fucking good, Yixing.”

“Feels good, too,” Yixing said, and pressed a third finger inside.  Baekhyun hissed and braced himself against Sehun’s chest.  Sehun grabbed his hand then, with the one not already occupied with stroking his cock, and held it through the stretch.

“Doing so well,” Yixing murmured, kissing Baekhyun’s ear.  “I wonder, could you take a forth finger?”

“No,” Baekhyun gasped, squeezing Sehun’s hand harder.  “No, no, no, please.  I’m ready, I can take him, _please_ let me take him.”

Yixing had the audacity to laugh a little.  “Okay, fine.  Here.”

He pulled away, eliciting a hiss from Baekhyun, before dragging open the drawer in the bedside table and rooting around in it.

“Care to do the honors?” Yixing asked, dangling a condom in front of Baekhyun.

“Gladly,” Baekhyun said, ripping the packet open and rolling the condom down Sehun’s cock before covering it in a generous amount of lube.  Sehun had gotten used to being fucked lately, not doing the fucking, and he felt overstimulated already.  A few quick strokes down the length and Baekhyun was angling Sehun’s cock upwards, pressing it against his hole and very, _very_ slowly sinking down.

“Oh boy,” he breathed, voice shaking a bit.  Sehun ran his hands up his thighs and Yixing held him close as he inched down slowly.  Sehun’s toes curled against the bed sheets, but he managed to keep still as Baekhyun set his own pace.  Then, without warning, Baekhyun rocked down _hard_ , bottoming out and punching a gasp out of Sehun in the process.

“Maybe I should have prepared Sehun, too,” Yixing teased, and Baekhyun grinned through the bit of discomfort on his face.

“Yeah,” he breathed, “And maybe that fourth finger wouldn’t have been a bad idea after all.”

“Are you okay?” Sehun asked immediately, unable to fight a wave of concern.

“Give me a minute to adjust and I’ll be more than okay.”

Sehun nodded as Baekhyun relaxed.  Really, he was feeling winded himself.  It was a tight fit, so sweet and warm.  Sehun wanted to thrust up into it, but he wasn’t sure that he’d be able to even handle too much stimulation right now.

“Okay,” Baekhyun said, moments later.  “Good now.”

And then he lifted up, drawing a hiss out of Sehun and a moan out of himself.  He spoke some more, murmured the typical _oh you feel so good_ and _fuck you’re big inside me, filling me up_.  Behind him, Yixing whispered things in his ear, too quiet for Sehun, obviously teasing him.  Whatever it was, it had Baekhyun biting his lips and giggling and circling his hips in a way that made Sehun see white.

It reminded Sehun of that first night together – Baekhyun in in his lap with Yixing pressed behind him, eyes dark and full of intent.  One of Yixing’s hands rested on Baekhyun’s hip, pushing and pulling him up Sehun’s cock.  The other wandered, fingers in Baekhyun’s mouth one moment, pinching his nipple and making him squirm the next, drawing nonsensical patterns down his fluttering stomach for a moment, before finally gripping Baekhyun’s still mostly hard cock in a teasing, too-light grip.

It took a tremendous amount of willpower for Sehun to not thrust up at the sight: Baekhyun arching his back, lips parted and eyes lidded as Yixing peered hungrily over his shoulder, watching Baekhyun’s cock before dragging his gaze up the length of Sehun’s body to land on Sehun’s face.

“How does he feel, Sehunnie?” he asked, voice fraying at the edges.  It was hot, thinking that he was coming apart from just watching them, and Sehun couldn’t stop the tiny involuntary roll of his hips that had Baekhyun’s breath hitching.

“Good,” Sehun breathed, watching Yixing’s hand tighten around Baekhyun’s cock.  “Really good.  You should fuck him next, when I’m done.  I bet he’d still be tight.”

“Not gonna last,” Baekhyun whimpered.  Because by now, his thighs were trembling and his rhythm was growing erratic.  Sehun knew from their little shower adventure that it didn’t take much to make Baekhyun fall apart, and he wondered if he could make Baekhyun come on his cock like this.

Suddenly, Yixing pulled away from Baekhyun to crawl on the bed next to Sehun.  Baekhyun whined at the loss, but Yixing ignored him as he pulled Sehun into a kiss.  He was still completely dressed, wearing those simple black slacks and a white button up.  It made Baekhyun and Sehun’s nudity feel more pronounced, like he was on a completely different level from them.  Sehun shivered when the cotton shirt brushed his chest.

Baekhyun seemed to falter a bit just as Yixing said, “He’s getting tired, Sehunnie.  Maybe you should take over.”

Sehun’s fingers raked down the softness of Baekhyun’s thighs, leaving red stripes in their wake.  “Do you want me to do that, Baekhyun-hyung?”

“Uh-huh,” Baekhyun murmured, almost beyond speech at this point, “Do it.”

How could Sehun say no to that?  He spread his legs a bit, feet wide and braced on the bed, and thrust up against Baekhyun once.  It had Baekhyun pitching forward, falling against his chest with how tired he was from bouncing earlier.  Yixing reached out, tangled his hands in Baekhyun’s hair and drew him in for a kiss that Baekhyun returned.  It grew sloppy quickly, with the way Sehun grabbed his ass to hold him steady and started thrusting upwards without holding anything back.

Sehun felt Yixing’s hand creep over his stomach before grabbing Baekhyun’s cock, jerking him harder and faster than he had before.  Sehun could feel a burn in his thighs, tiredness creeping into his muscles from the repetitive action, but he didn’t dare stop as Baekhyun gasped and moaned and fell apart above him, coming all over his stomach and dripping down Yixing’s fingers.

Fingers that, a moment later, tapped at Sehun’s bottom lip.  He opened his mouth without thinking about it, too blissed-out and deep in pleasure to do anything but suck Baekhyun’s come from Yixing’s skin.  Yixing pulled back only to press his mouth where his fingers had been, chasing the taste on Sehun’s tongue.

“Ah,” Baekhyun winced as he pulled off Sehun and flopped to the side.  “I’m all worn out.  Too tired for another round.  Sorry, hyung.”

Sehun would have said something about how _not_ sorry Baekhyun sounded if Yixing’s tongue wasn’t still in his mouth.

“But, would you look at _that_ ,” Baekhyun continued, mischief coloring his voice even as his chest heaved, “There just so happens to be a bottle of lube and another another ass almost as pretty as mine _right here_.”

As nice as kissing Yixing was, Sehun wouldn’t stand for that slander.  He pulled away abruptly and glared over at the satiated man.  “We’ve had this discussion before and we both agreed _I_ have the superior ass.”

“Really?” Baekhyun grinned.  “I can’t remember.  But luckily we have an unbiased third party who can be the judge.”

Baekhyun’s hand was already creeping between Sehun’s legs as Yixing asked him earnestly, “Would you like that, Sehunnie?”

He would.  He really fucking would.  Suddenly embarrassed at his over-eagerness, he pinched his eyes closed and nodded.

“Uh-uh,” Sehun felt Yixing’s thumb brush over his lips, “You have to say it.”

Sehun swallowed.  “Yes.”

“Yes what?”

“Go on, Sehunnie,” Baekhyun urged, teasing over his hole with dry fingertips.

“Please,” Sehun opened his eyes and looked up at Yixing, “Please fuck me.”

“Baekhyun,” Yixing said, still looking at Sehun, “Be a good boy and put those pretty fingers of yours to use.”

Baekhyun’s reply was a perky “Yes, sir!”

Sehun clung to Yixing’s shoulders as Baekhyun opened him up with slick fingers.  Baekhyun was _really_ good at this part, building the stretch up just right so it only ever toed the line between good and uncomfortable, teasing just the right amount, angling his fingers _perfectly_.  By the time he was stretched out and ready for Yixing’s cock, Sehun was already shaking and his erection hadn’t flagged a bit.

Yixing wasted no time pulling off the condom that was still on Sehun’s dick and rolling on a condom of his own.  He was still fully dressed, only the first few buttons of his shirt undone and his pants pulled down to his upper thigh.  Something about that felt dirty, like Sehun was so much more bare and open and vulnerable below him.

The first press of Yixing’s cockhead into his hole had Sehun gritting his teeth and digging his fingers into Baekhyun’s arm where it was thrown over his chest.  Yixing pushed in slow, his strong hands holding Sehun still and grounding him the whole time.

The first real thrust was hesitant, like Yixing was testing the waters.  The second was a bit stronger, and it made Sehun’s breath catch and his grip on Baekhyun tightened.  By the third, Yixing started building up a rhythm, pushing and pulling Sehun’s body the way he liked it.

Now _this_ was more of what Sehun was used to, just lying back and letting someone else take him apart, letting someone use him to chase their pleasure and finding his own pleasure in the process.

“Oh,” Baekhyun sighed, trailing his fingers over Sehun’s stomach.  There was come drying there, and it would feel gross as hell in a little while, but Sehun wasn’t about to take a quick break for a sponge bath.  “He looks so pretty like this.”

Yixing and Sehun were both mostly quiet.  In the place of words, they let small involuntary noises slip out, tiny grunts and cut-off moans.  But Baekhyun, true to his character, didn’t shut the fuck up.

“He takes it so well,” he’d sigh.

“You’re filling him up, hyung,” he’d murmur.

“You like having someone watch you,” he’d tease, “Don’t you, Sehunnie?  Like having me watch the way you move, listen to all those pretty noises you make, see how good Yixing-hyung is at taking you apart.  Shit, you’re so pretty.”

And he wasn’t wrong.  Baekhyun’s eyes on him were hot, burning, and every roll of Yixing’s hips felt more acute, the drag of his cock inside Sehun was more pronounced.  It was like an unconscious touch gliding all over his body, starting fires under his skin.  Sehun wondered what he had to look like to them, laying back, letting himself be taken apart, moving with the rhythm of Yixing’s body.

And after everything, fucking Baekhyun and getting fucked by Yixing, he was so hard that it _hurt_.

“Please, touch me,” he panted, arms above his head, holding onto the headboard and gripping the pillow tight. And then, before he could stop himself, “Ah – daddy, please!”

Wait.  What?

Yixing pitched forward with a stuttering moan.  Sehun threw his hands over his face to hide his burning embarrassment, but the damage was done.  

“Did you just–” Baekhyun began, but Sehun found it hard to concentrate on the rest of what he was saying when Yixing started to kiss him, deep and thorough.  He felt almost dizzy – from pleasure, from embarrassment.  Yixing just fucked him through it, practically pinning him to the bed with his weight

Next to them, Baekhyun was _loving_ this.

“You gonna make daddy come for you?” he murmured when Yixing pulled back, a wicked smile playing on his lips.  Part of Sehun wanted to shove him away, tell him to fuck off.  But he didn’t, he just dragged him closer instead.  “It’s too bad about the condom.  Wish he could fill you up, pump you full of it.  Then I could watch it drip out of you, eat it out of you.”

“Oh, fuck,” Yixing whispered, barely audible beyond the buzzing in Sehun’s ears.  

“Can I touch him,” Baekhyun grinned, “ _Daddy_?”

“Fuck you,” Sehun whined, writhing at the sound of it alone.

Yixing ignored him.  “Go on.  He’s close.”

Baekhyun’s hand was on him in an instant, stroking hard and fast without even bothering to tease.

“Could you come first?” he  asked, lips at Sehun’s ear as he milked his cock.  “You’re wound so tight, I bet you could.”

Yixing seemed to take that as a challenge.  Muttering something Sehun didn’t understand, he redoubled his efforts and had Sehun crying out with every thrust.  It was too much – Sehun could hardly _breathe_ under all of the sensations flooding him at once.  The tight strokes of Baekhyun’s hand had become a smooth glide with all the precome leaking from Sehun’s cock, and Yixing had bent over his body so far that his lips were at Sehun’s neck.

“Come on, Sehunnie,” he murmured, scraping his teeth across the skin, “I know you can come for me.”

And a few thrusts later, stuck between the dual sensations of Yixing practically consuming him and Baekhyun trying his hardest to pull him apart, he did.  He jerked and groaned and whined through it, curling his toes and arching his back.  He twitched and trembled and fell apart as Yixing fucked him steadily, not relenting for a second.

He was still shuddering through the aftershocks when Yixing pulled out and tore the condom off, jerking his own cock hard and fast until he came all over Sehun.

_Three_ loads of come on his stomach, marking him up.  That’s just excessive.

“Oh,” Sehun laughed a bit breathlessly as Yixing panted, still kneeling over him.  “Oh, that’s so gross.  Fuck, I’m covered in it.”

Baekhyun snorted out a laugh.  “I dunno, I think it’s kinda hot.  Hang on a second.”

As he bounded up and out of the room, Yixing finally slumped down next to Sehun in a contented heap.  “Well.  I take it Baekhyun’s doing just fine, but how are you?”

“Huh?”

“Are you doing okay?” Yixing asked, completely earnest.  His hair was in disarray, sticking to his forehead in some spots, standing straight up in others.  There was a gentleness to his eyes, to his mouth.  He looked sleepy and fucked out, and Sehun felt the same satisfaction down to his bones.

“Do you even have to ask?”

Yixing smiled sleepily.  “I like to make sure.”

Baekhyun came back with a washcloth that he promptly slapped down on Sehun’s stomach, just to be a little shit.

“Maybe,” he said, “If we’re careful and you stay really still, we can clean all this jizz off of you without getting any of it on the bed.”

“I think it’s too late for that,” Yixing said, frowning down at a suspicious dark spot.  “I’ve been meaning to wash these sheets, anyway.”

They cleaned up the worst of it and resolved to take a shower, getting into a small argument about the best way to go about it.

“Come on,” Baekhyun whined, “We could all totally fit in the tub together!”

“I feel like all three of us in there at once would be counterproductive to getting clean,” Yixing pointed out.

There was a dangerous twinkle in Baekhyun’s eye.  “That’s the whole point.”

“Didn’t you just have an orgasm like a half-hour ago?” Sehun asked, arm thrown over his eyes.

“I could go again,” Baekhyun said cheerfully.  “But since _you’re_ lazy and _you’re_ old, I’ll just have to contain myself.”

Yixing playfully shoved him away, only to drag him closer again.

Baekhyun giggled and fought out of Yixing’s hold.  “Come here, you’re not comfy enough.”

“What?” Yixing smiled as Baekhyun started to pull his shirt off.  “Baekhyunnie, I can’t get naked, we have to make dinner soon.”

“I thought we were showering soon,” Sehun said.

“No way,” Yixing shook his head.  “Food first, I’m _starving_.”

“Then we’ll put you in something comfier,” Baekhyun insisted.  “It’s never too early to put your jammies on.”

“Whatever you say,” Yixing smiled, and then turned to look at Sehun.  “Doing alright down there, Sehunnie?  You haven’t moved in a while.”

“Urgh,” Sehun groaned, stretching his arms out above his head.  “Someone come cuddle me, I’m worn out.”

Both of them were on him in a second.

-

They learned quickly that Sehun and Baekhyun had very different needs and preferences, and Yixing was very willing to adapt.  Baekhyun was a bit wilder, liked to have his hair pulled and his skin scratched.  He liked it hard and messy and as loud as possible.  Sehun was more interested in being pampered.  He didn’t mind a bit of a tease, reveled in softness, and was quick to dissolve into shameless begging.  Baekhyun poked fun at him for being a pillow princess once, and in retaliation Sehun pinned him down and rode him as slowly as possible – until Baekhyun was the one begging.

Not that they didn’t switch it up sometimes.  Sehun would never forget the time he showed up in the locker room with bruises blossoming on his wrists, Jongin’s face creasing in concern until Sehun stuttered and blushed through an explanation.

Leaving names out, of course.  Suho’s was worse than a sewing circle, Sehun didn’t need everyone gossiping about himself and Baekhyun sharing a boyfriend.

Boyfriend – they’d never said it aloud, not even Baekhyun.  But Sehun liked the sound of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ohhh my goodness this fic has gotten waaaaay more feedback and kudos than i would have expected, i'm so flustered!! thank you guys!! originally this was going to be three parts, but it ran away form me. thanks for reading so far and i hope the rest is enjoyable~


	4. Chapter 4

When Sehun dragged himself home with aching muscles from a long night at the club to see a yellow sheet of paper taped to his door, he knew he had a problem.  The big red letters loudly declaring _EVICTION NOTICE_ were a pretty good clue.

“You have got to be fucking kidding me.”

Habitually late on rent, of course.  Looks like his landlord finally had enough.  Honestly, though, it wasn’t much of a surprise.  Sehun might have been doing well lately, but he had always struggled to keep his head above water.  His job brought in cash, but he had a lot of expenses living alone in this city.

Subway fares, bus fares, taxi fares.  Food.  Bills.  The money he sent back home.  Personal indulgences that, admittedly, were completely unnecessary.  Nice clothes, frequent hair cuts, sometimes jewelry.  He remembered every five-thousand won shot he bought in his life with startling clarity, and regretted each one.

Junmyeon always told him that his problem was that he lived like trust fund baby with a safety net.  Maybe, just maybe, he should have listened to Junmyeon a little more carefully in the past few months.  He was dizzy and cold with the realization that this was actually happening, and he didn’t have an immediate bail out.

Deep breaths.  Thirty days.  He could find somewhere to crash in thirty days.

The next afternoon, he swallowed his pride and started making phone calls.  The first one was to Jongin, who was a terrible option because he was in the process of moving in with someone else himself.  Kyungsoo lived in a university-owned apartment complex that would be technically illegal to house Sehun in since he wasn’t a student.  Zitao seemed accommodating, but he also lived in the middle of fucking nowhere without much in the way of reliable public transportation.

And of course, Sehun tried Baekhyun as well.

“Sehunnie, we’re already semi-illegally cramming a third dude into our tiny two-bedroom,” Baekhyun said over the phone.  “If you _really_ need a place to crash, that’s fine.  But why don’t you just ask Yixing?  I’m sure he’d be more than cool with it and you practically live at his place anyway.”

He felt like a piece of shit for even asking.  Here was a guy who worked his ass off seven days a week, who only really knew Sehun for a few months, who had already given Sehun so much and Sehun was just asking for more.  It felt exploitative.  Sehun didn’t want to make Yixing think he was only hanging around for his own benefit.

But when he tentatively popped the question a few nights later, Yixing’s face blossomed into a curious smile.

“Of course.  You can stay as long as you like.”

“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” Sehun was ready to kiss Yixing’s feet in gratitude, but settled on a quick peck to the cheek instead.  “I’ll pitch in for the bills, buy groceries, shit like that–”

“Sehun, Sehun, shhh,” Yixing quieted him.  “Don’t worry about it.  Get your own finances figured out first.  It’s fine.”

“I can’t just bum around on your couch without giving something back.”

“I’ll take care of it,” he said, but the warm hands resting on Sehun’s shoulders said, _I’ll take care of you_.  “And besides, who says you’ll be on the couch?”

Sehun grinned.  He liked the sound of that.

It was the next day that Baekhyun found out.  He seemed more pleased about it than Sehun, bouncing on his heels and practically squealing in delight.

“Daddy’s got a roomie,” he said in a sing-song voice, and Sehun felt dizzy with how fast his blood rushed to his face.

“Do you _have_ to call him that?”

“You started it,” Baekhyun pointed out.  Fair enough.

It took two weeks to make official.  Thankfully, Sehun didn’t have a lot to move.  Most of what he owned were clothes, anyway.  Piles and piles of clothes.  Good thing Yixing had a huge closet.

-

The first gift was a replacement.  

A week after officially moving in, Sehun nudged a ring of his that was sitting on the bathroom counter straight into the sink basin and down the drain.  He lamented the loss with as much dramatic flair as possible, but got over it quickly.  It was a fairly cheap thing, anyway.

The ring Yixing gave him two weeks later was _not_ cheap.

“Try not to lose this one down the sink,” he teased.  Sehun was too dumbfounded to respond as he gaped at the silver band twinkling on his finger.  It was unexpected, to say the least.

“And what about me?” Baekhyun pouted.  “I’m feeling left out.”

He was joking, but Yixing bought him a matching one soon after.

-

Not much changed after Sehun moved in.  He’d spent so much time at Yixing’s apartment before the eviction incident that it was like a second home to him anyway.  Their schedules were sometimes incompatible, with Yixing working all day and Sehun working all night.  Be he still enjoyed those moments where he would slip under the covers in the early morning after his shift.  Yixing would open his eyes and mumble a soft _g'morning_  before clinging to him for the few hours before his own alarm would go off.

Baekhyun, of course, was a constant installation in the apartment even if he didn’t live there.  Sitting at the drafting table, flitting through the rooms like shifting light, filling the silence with playful chatter or the sounds of exacto knives slicing foam board to build models.  Swearing when he fucked up the dimensions and whooping when everything came out perfectly.

There was the sound of music, sometimes, when they would practice or just dance for fun.  Baekhyun’s pretty hips, Sehun’s long legs, Yixing’s appraising eyes.

They did love dancing.  And dancing often lead to fucking, which there was plenty of to begin with.

Sehun heard them going at it almost as soon as he walked into the apartment on a lazy sunday evening after hanging out with Jongin all day.  There was no mistaking the sounds – a mattress creaking rhythmically, the wet impact of their hips slapping together, Baekhyun’s downright musical moans, murmured praise from Yixing.  Sehun hurried inside and closed the door as quietly as he could.

What to do, what to do?  He felt sweat beading at his temples at just the sound of it.  He couldn’t imagine what the sight would do to him.  Sehun dropped his bag by the door and toed his shoes off as quietly as he could before creeping down the hall.

Biting his lip, he pushed open the door just in time to see Yixing pin Baekhyun’s hands next to his head with a roughness that had Baekhyun arching off the bed with a moan.  Yixing was a solid force over him, bending Baekhyun nearly in half as he pounded into him, one of Baekhyun’s legs around his waist and the other one nearly over his shoulder.

Hell of a sight, to say the least.

The first one to notice Sehun lingering in the doorway was Baekhyun.  He seemed to blink in confusion for a moment before unhooking one of his arms from around Yixing’s shoulder and reaching towards Sehun.

“Sehun-ah,” he panted, and Yixing turned to look over his shoulder at Sehun.  A smile broke out across his face, a more wicked thing than Sehun even thought him capable of, before he hooked an arm under Baekhyun and lifted him so he was seated in his lap.

Baekhyun gasped as he fell with his knees braced on either side of Yixing’s hips, thighs spread wide.  Sehun was rooted to the spot as he watched Baekhyun roll naturally into the new position, rising and falling with one of Yixing’s guiding hands curled around his hip and the other moving quickly across his cock.

God, they were pretty like that.

“Will you come here, Sehunnie?” Yixing asked, voice dripping saccharine sweetness even though his labored breathing.  It was enough to snap Sehun out of it, and he quickly scrambled over to the bed.  Yixing turned his head to seek out a kiss, but Baekhyun had the advantage of a free hand as he dragged Sehun close and pressed their mouths together.

The kiss was sloppy and awkward with the way Baekhyun didn’t stop moving in Yixing’s lap.  The second it broke, Yixing was on him, kissing him with an urgency that made it seem like they hadn’t seen each other in days when really it had only been a few hours.  Sehun slotted in behind Yixing, sandwiching him between the two men.  Yixing stayed sitting upright with his back against Sehun’s chest as Baekhyun rode his lap.

“Just let us take care of you,” Sehun murmured, kissing Yixing’s temple as Baekhyun bounced steadily.  Yixing tilted his head back and made a noise, just a tiny grunt that seemed to be an affirmation.  The motion left Sehun’s mouth centimeters away from the pretty curve of Yixing’s neck, so no one could blame him for giving into the temptation to lean down the slightest bit and suck a kiss into the smooth skin.

To say that the reaction it got out of Yixing was interesting would be an understatement.  He jerked as if shocked – jarring a surprised moan out of Baekhyun – and made a noise that could only be described as a whimper.

Yixing’s vocal repertoire in bed was impressive, but they’d never heard him _whimper_ before.

“Oh,” Baekhyun breathed, sitting still now, “I think he liked that.”

“Yeah,” Sehun breathed, “I think he did.”

Baekhyun splayed his pretty fingers across Yixing’s throat, not pressing down so much as stroking.  Yixing didn’t make another noise, but he did bite his lip and let his head drop back against Sehun’s shoulder.

“Well, well,” Baekhyun smirked as he started moving his hips again.  “You’re sensitive, aren’t you?”

Tentatively, Yixing nodded, like he was giving up a dirty secret.  His hand seemed to falter around Baekhyun’s cock, losing rhythm as Baekhyun pressed his fingertips the tiniest bit into his throat.  All the while, Sehun continued to pepper Yixing’s neck with kisses, suck bruises that they’d have to cover up with Baekhyun’s slightly mismatched concealer, even scraped his teeth across the skin like he was threatening to bite.  And Yixing’s voice rose to a pitch they’d never expected out of him, all high and pretty and practically whining.

Somehow, Baekhyun _still_ managed to come before Yixing, though it was clear they were both close.  With no real warning at all, he tensed up and froze mid-downstroke on Yixing’s cock, shooting off in ropes across Yixing’s chest, getting him messy with it.  It seemed to surprise all three of them, and Sehun would have loved to have caught Yixing’s reaction if he wasn’t so transfixed with watching Baekhyun’s cock twitch in Yixing’s lust-clumsy fingers.

When Baekhyun’s muscles unlocked, he slumped forward, bypassing Yixing entirely to plant a big sloppy satiated kiss on Sehun’s mouth.

“Baekhyun,” Yixing whined in that high, whimpering voice that Sehun was growing to like.

“Oh,” Baekhyun pulled back, “I’m sorry.  You were close, weren’t you?”

“You’re so cruel,” Yixing complained.

“What’s the magic word?”

“Please?”

But Baekhyun only grinned, and said, “Do you _really_ think I’m going to let you come when you haven’t taken care of Sehunnie yet?”

Sehun really had no idea who was in control anymore.  It sure didn’t seem like it was Yixing.

Not that Sehun minded much, since he wound up sitting back against the headboard with Yixing’s soft, wet mouth around his cock.  It wasn’t often that Yixing gave either of them head, since Baekhyun enjoyed doing it so much and Sehun was so damn _good_ at it.  But Yixing was good at it, too, had a mouth that was perfect for playing along all of Sehun’s nerves just right.

And after Sehun came apart, shaking and shuddering and curling his toes, Baekhyun was kissing Yixing before he could even think about spitting.  Sehun groaned pitifully as he watched Baekhyun lick the come from Yixing’s mouth, hand working fast over Yixing’s cock and tipping over the edge in no time.

While Yixing was still blissed out and lying limp, Sehun slid down the length of the bed and gathered him up in his arms.  Yixing’s nose was pressed into his jaw, and he could feel the slight dampness of Yixing's still ragged breathing fanning across his neck.

“I think we broke him,” Sehun joked.  Yixing lazily pinched his side in retaliation.

And Baekhyun, looking like a contented cat, licked his fingers clean and said, “Glad you’re home, Sehunnie.”

-

Sometimes it was good.  Really good.  Practically idyllic.  But other times, Sehun felt out of place even in their shared apartment.  

It was in the moments when Yixing would come home with his briefcase bulging and Baekhyun would crack open his laptop or seat himself at the drafting table and not move for hours.  The problem wasn’t boredom.  Sehun had his own laptop, an old thing that was nearly ten years old, but it ran.  He had his phone, some weathered books he liked to reread, the sight of the skyline twinkling in the twilight through the living room windows.  

And the company.  Even when they were working quietly, Sehun always enjoyed being around Baekhyun and Yixing.

But still, some evenings, Sehun felt strangely alone.  The discordant sounds of horns on the streets below, voices banging off in the hallway outside of the apartment, even the ticking of the wall-mounted clock that was two minutes too slow seemed to grate on him.  Yixing could tell.  He kept his distance and didn’t say a word, opting instead to trace patterns in the top of Sehun’s foot where it was resting in his lap.

He hated the irrational moodiness that bubbled up inside of him, but he didn’t know how to fight it other than to just ride out the storm.  Yixing seemed perfectly content to ride it out with him.

Around the usual time,  Baekhyun walked through the front door, looking tired but smiling brightly.  Sehun excused himself to take a shower almost immediately after.  It was excessively hot and left his skin pink and only managed to darken his mood.

When he turned off the shower, the hiss of rushing water was replaced by a muffled piano melody and two voices laughing in the living room.  He couldn’t place the songs they were beating out, couldn’t distinguish more than one or two words at a time.  Nevertheless, the sound was pleasant, practically harmonious.  The two of them clicked, despite their outward differences.  

Sehun dried off and threw on an old pair of pajama pants.  He wandered into the living room slowly, feeling like he was intruding on something.  For the moment, he leaned against the wall and watched their playful duet.  Yixing noticed him after a minute, glancing back over his shoulder and doing a double-take.

He startled slightly, and Sehun grimaced.  “Shit, you scared me.”

“Yeah,” Sehun said.  “Sorry.”

“No worries,” Yixing hopped up from the bench and approached Sehun, taking his hand.  His own hands were warm as he gently traced one of Sehun’s fingers. “Can you play?”

Sehun shook his head.  He wanted to clasp his hands with Yixing’s, but he felt like he wasn’t allowed after his stormy mood earlier.  If anything, he felt like he should apologize.

“That’s fine, come here.”

He tugged Sehun over to the piano and sat him down on the bench.  Standing behind him, Yixing put his hands on top of Sehun’s and awkwardly but enthusiastically guided him through the motions of the song.  

“That doesn’t sound right at all,” Sehun said, smiling softly despite himself.

“Yeah, that’s because Yixing is more interested in holding your hand than playing the song,” Baekhyun pointed out.  “Not that I can blame him.”

And then Baekhyun’s lips were at Sehun’s ear, tickling him more than kissing him.  Sehun hunched his shoulder and  wriggled as hard as he could as he tried to escape, but he was still locked tight in Yixing’s half-embrace.  The giggles were coming out of him before he could stop them.

Baekhyun relented with his nose in Sehun’s hair.  He took a deep breath and hummed appreciatively.  “You smell good.”

“I should hope I do,” Sehun said.  “I just showered.”

“Would you mind if I used your shampoo?” Baekhyun asked.  

“I already do,” Yixing admitted before Sehun could even answer.  Sehun craned his neck back to look up at him.

“You _what_?”

“Just a little every once in awhile,” Yixing promised.  “I like to smell like you.  You have good taste.”

Sehun flushed pleasantly at the thought of Baekhyun and Yixing walking around all day deliberately smelling like him, carrying that little piece of intangible connection between the three of them like a token.  A reminder.  An invisible embrace.  He liked that thought a lot.

“Sure,” he said, plucking at a key in fidgety embarrassment, “I don’t mind.”

The peck he got on his cheek from Baekhyun turned the swarm of butterflies in his stomach into a frenzy.

-

The second gift was small, but important.

Really, Sehun shouldn’t have ranked it among the gifts at all.  Next to the rest of them, it was worth little more than pocket change.

It was about ten til six when Sehun arrived home, a bit tired and loose from practicing.  But it was Wednesday and the club wasn’t open.  Sehun was more than ready to spend the entire evening curled up on the couch.  Hopefully, with Yixing pressed up against him.  And maybe Baekhyun, too, if he decided to stop by later.

It was clear, however, that the latter part of those plans were going to be put on hold.  Because the first thing Sehun saw when he opened the door was Yixing, looking a bit frazzled and rushed.  He hadn’t even expected Yixing to be home just yet.

“Hey there,” Sehun said, kicking his shoes off.  “Long day?”

“Hi, yeah,” Yixing ran a hand through his hair and let out a puttering breath through his lips.  “It’s about to get longer.  Can you get takeout tonight or something?  I was going to get groceries on my way home, but I have to head out in like twenty minutes.”

“Where are you going?” Sehun pouted.  “I just got here.”

“Business dinner with a potential client,” Yixing said, not looking happy about it in the least.  “They forgot to pass the word down to me until this morning.  Completely unexpected.  Wish me luck.”

“Who needs luck with a face like this?” Sehun teased, pinching Yixing’s cheek when he glanced away with a bashful smile.  “Anyway, if that’s the case I might as well go chill out at Baekhyun’s apartment.  He’s stuck on campus tonight but I’m sure Chanyeol and I can find something to eat.”

“Oh, hey,” Yixing caught his arm as he turned away.  “Before you head out, look in the plastic bag on the counter next to the fridge.”

And then Yixing was disappearing down the hallway, slipping into the bathroom without another word.  Curious, Sehun wandered over to the counter and peeked inside the bag.

A phone charger.  Sehun had lost his around a week ago and was forced to use Minseok’s since they both had the same ancient model and it was impossible to find the right charger anymore.  But somehow, Yixing had done it.

Huh.

A few minutes later, Yixing ran out of the bathroom with a towel around his hips, hair still soaked and dripping beads of water down on his chest.  Sehun didn’t even _try_ to pretend like he wasn’t staring.

“Hey, thanks,” Sehun said, holding up the charger as he followed Yixing into the bedroom.  “No idea where you found this, but I appreciate it.”

“I could get you a new phone,” Yixing offered, eyeing three ties he’d laid out on top of the dresser.  “Replace that giant ancient brick of yours.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Sehun said. “Go with the purple tie.  Purple softens you up, makes you look approachable.”

Yixing turned to him with a pout.  “Are you saying I’m unapproachable?”

“You’re very handsome,” Sehun said.  “It’s intimidating.”

Yixing breathed out a small laugh.  “I’m going to choose to take that as a compliment.”

Watching Yixing get dressed to impress a client was like watching a soldier gear up for war.  White shirt, crisp.  Tie, knotted firmly.  Waistcoat, _jesus_.  Yixing only ever busted out the waistcoats every once in awhile.  It was a good thing, too, since Sehun felt lightheaded just looking at the way it stretched across his chest, made his figure look tight and tapered in all the right places.

There was no resisting the urge to reach out, spread his fingers wide and drag his palm down Yixing’s chest.

“You’re gonna make me late,” Yixing whined, but Sehun was glad to hear the hint of a smile in his voice.

“No I’m not,” Sehun said, hooking a finger in Yixing’s waistband.  “I just want to give you one kiss.  A thank-you kiss.  For the charger.”

“Well,” Yixing said, eyes on Sehun’s mouth, “How can I say no to that?”

Technically, Sehun managed to get four kisses out of him.  Four slow, wet, thorough kisses.  Yixing didn’t complain.

-

A month rolled by, and then two.  They never said the word boyfriend in all that time, which made one thing a little confusing.  Junmyeon had a bit of an unofficial rule for the dancers: no boyfriends or girlfriends in the club.  

Apparently, before Sehun got hired, some jealousy issues boiled over into a brawl, and Junmyeon had enough of it right then and there.  Enforcing it was difficult, so he simply asked with pleading eyes to _please_ not bring whoever you’re banging to the club.

Obviously, that rule didn’t apply to whatever Sehun and Baekhyun had going on.  But Sehun wondered if that rule _did_ apply to Yixing.  Even if they didn’t use the word, they _were_ kind of boyfriends. They lived together, fucked regularly, woke up with their arms and legs tangled together, cuddled on the couch on lazy evenings, made dinner together any time they could.

It didn’t really matter, though.  Because Yixing became a regular anyway, and they didn’t have jealousy issues at the club.  Yixing never bought a dance from anyone, no matter how hard everyone tried.  Baekhyun and Sehun both managed to keep the relationship on the downlow, but it was funny watching Yixing expertly sidestep everyone else’s attempts to seduce him into buying a dance.  And as far as Sehun could tell, he only even paid the stage any mind when Sehun or Baekhyun or both were up there.

Those moments were Sehun’s favorite.  Yixing would usually sit at the bar and just enjoy the show, eyes sharp, smile playing on his lips.  He’d watch his boys reduce the room to a lustful haze, proud and a bit smug to know that he had both of them all to himself.  Sehun loved the idea that Yixing watched them sometimes, and he could tell Baekhyun was into it, too.  

Those nights were always a little hotter, a little wilder.  They’d go the extra mile, show more skin, grind against the pole like they were begging to be fucked – because they sort of were.  They way they eyefucked each other through those dances practically toed the line of exhibitionism more than once, but they couldn’t help themselves.  It was another layer of unconventional to their already unique situation, but they didn’t mind it.  No, if anything, they reveled in it.

-

The third gift was a necessity, Yixing had insisted.

Apparently, it was actually Baekhyun’s idea.  Baekhyun even picked it out.  Everyone always gave Sehun shit for running late – to work, to lunch, to appointments, even on nights when they’d go out.

“Now you have no excuse to be late,” Baekhyun said, snuggling close to Yixing’s side on the couch as they both watched Sehun pace the length of the room with amusement in their eyes.

“Okay, a watch I can understand,” he said, looking down in the open box it came in, “But was it necessary to buy me a genuine fucking Rolex?”

On the whole, it looked like a fairly normal watch.  Not _too_ flashy, but definitely very nice.  It was black and silver, with a small splash of gold on the face.  The strap was leather, real leather, the kind that had a distinct smell to it.  Sehun was almost afraid to touch it, like his fingerprints would soil it.

“If it’s any consolation,” Yixing said, looking far too smug, “It wasn’t the most expensive one I could have bought.”

Sehun glanced back down at it and started to mentally put a price on it before he could help himself.

“Why don’t you try it on,” Yixing suggested, a smile sitting on his lips.  “See how it looks.”

“Here,” Baekhyun hopped up from the couch and took the box from Sehun’s hand.  “Hold out your arm.”

Sehun did.  Baekhyun looped the band around his wrist, fastening it and pushing a finger between his skin and the leather to test the tightness.  Then he grabbed Sehun’s hand and pulled him towards the couch, shoving him down next to Yixing and all but crawling into his lap.

Sehun sat still and let Baekhyun gently turn his arm, as if modeling the watch.

“Told you it would look good on him,” he said, just a little smug.

“Yeah,” Yixing agreed.  “Do you like it, Sehun?”

It was a comfortable weight on his wrist.  Heavy, expensive.  He’d have to be careful about keeping it covered on those nights he'd commute home at three in the morning, but he’d be lying if he said he didn’t want to show it off a little.

“Yeah,” he said.  “Yeah, I do.”

Yixing nodded.  “Good.”

“Thank you,” Sehun said, and Yixing pressed a kiss to his forehead.

-

After the Rolex, Yixing started to almost push his way into funding Sehun’s wardrobe, and eventually Baekhyun’s, too.  Well, the Rolex and an incident that involved Sehun fucking around at Baekhyun’s apartment and trying to do a split, tearing a huge hole down the inside of his jeans in the process.

The new trousers were much nicer.

Of course, Baekhyun had been getting his own gifts all this time, too.  He refused to let Yixing give him some things, like books for his classes or cash for transportation.  But luxuries, he was absolutely fine with.  The drafting table was just the start.  A new phone when his broke.  A pair of boots.  And Sehun and Yixing’s favorite: thigh high stockings that he liked to wear with oversized sweaters in the evening to get all three of them riled up.

If anything, Baekhyun got _more_ gifts than Sehun.  Because he found out a long time ago that all he had to do to get what he wanted was perch himself in Yixing’s lap and say the magic words in that soft, pleading voice of his:

“Pretty please, daddy?”

And Yixing would flush and wet his bottom lip and gaze at Baekhyun with heavy-lidded eyes.

“You’re shameless,” he would accuse, but he would never deny Baekhyun a single damn thing in those moments.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm sorry that this update came so much later than the previous ones!!! real life hit me kind of hard this week and i had some computer issues on top of that. this chapter is kinda longish though so i hope that makes up for it a little.

Something was wrong with Baekhyun.  

Sehun noticed it, and it was obvious that Yixing had noticed it, too.  He was quieter, almost somber, and couldn’t stop fidgeting.  There was an anxiety hovering over him, cold and relentless.  At the club, his flirtatiousness was overdone, forced.

Every time someone brought it up, he deflected the question.  Until one night, sitting at the kitchen table, he brought it up himself.

“So, I have an offer for a really solid internship,” he said.  “A really good opportunity.”

“Well, that’s a good thing,” Yixing said.  “Right?”

“Yeah, well,” Baekhyun fiddled with the sleeve of his too-big sweater, poked absently at the food he’d hardly eaten.  “It’s a summer gig – just short of three months.  And it’s for a company that operates out of Busan.”

Oh.  Well, shit.

“If you think it’ll be a good opportunity for you,” Yixing said, “You should take it.”

“I agree,” Sehun said.  “You’ve been working at this degree for three years.  Three months of experience building won’t be that bad.”

“I know,” Baekhyun said, sounding unconvinced.  “I think I might have a decent one in Seoul around autumn, but–”

“You don’t want to settle for decent,” Yixing pressed.  “You want the best you can possibly get.”

“Yeah, but–” Baekhyun cut himself off with a sigh, covering his face with his hands like he wanted to hide from the rest of the conversation.

Sehun stood up from his seat and moved to stand behind Baekhyun, wrapping his arms around his shoulders.  “What’s holding you back, hyung?”

“I don’t want to leave Seoul,” Baekhyun admitted, voice small.  “I don’t want to leave the club, or Chanyeol and Jongdae.  Or you guys.  I feel like such a stupid kid right now.”

“It’s just three months,” Sehun assured him.  “And besides, it’s not like Busan is in another country.  We could visit.”

Baekhyun peered up at him, eyes hopeful.  “Would you?”

“Of course we would,” Yixing said.  “I don’t think either of us could go three months without seeing your cute little face.”

It was teasing and lighthearted and just what Baekhyun needed to smile and blush and hide his face in his hands.  “Shut up.  Facetime exists, you know.”

“Wouldn’t be the same,” Sehun said, still hunched over with his arms wrapped around Baekhyun.

By then, they were used to Yixing leaving on business stints, hectic trips to other countries to settle disputes with international companies and corporations.  But he was only ever gone for a week at a time, sometimes as little as three days.  Three months without Baekhyun was a much different situation.

But they could handle it.  They’d have to.

-

There was a going away party at Suho’s, once the semester ended and Baekhyun had a week before his departure to Busan.

“No way,” he’d insisted, “I don’t want a going away party, it’ll make me feel like I’m never coming back.”

“Baekhyun turning down a party?” Minseok asked the room, looking aghast.  “Who _is_ this impostor?”

“If it makes you feel better,” Junmyeon suggested, “We can just call it a party.”

“A not-going away party,” Minseok said.

“A pre-extended vacation party,” Jongin threw in.

“A see-you-soon party,” Sehun interjected.

“There we have it,” Junmyeon clapped his hands together.  “We’re throwing you a see-you-soon party, whether you like it or not.”

So, on a weekday evening when the club wasn’t open, they had a shitload of food delivered and busted out Baekhyun’s favorite booze.  They invited Jongdae and Chanyeol, of course, and a handful of other friends.  Guys and girls from Baekhyun’s classes, people Sehun had only met in passing.

Baekhyun had a _lot_ of friends.

Yixing couldn’t make it.  There was a work function he had to attend, the kind where he had to slick his hair back and spend an hour mentally preparing himself for an evening of abject boredom.  Baekhyun suggested he figure out how to astral project somewhere else, preferably straight to Suho’s.  Yixing seemed to seriously consider it.

Point is, he missed out.  He made it up to Baekhyun later, though, with their own see-you-soon party.

They had it two days before Baekhyun’s move-in date.  Sehun managed to sweet talk Baekhyun’s favorite recipe out of him, and he spent the afternoon in a four-way skype call with Chanyeol, Kyungsoo, and Jongin as they tried to guide him through preparing the meal while Baekhyun was at class all day.

It wasn’t that Sehun was a _bad_ cook exactly, just messy and a bit too careless.  Kyungsoo spent most of the call despairing at the rapidly regressing state of the kitchen.

Earlier than expected, the door swung open and Yixing strolled inside.

“Honey, I’m home,” he called, twirling his jacket off his shoulders with a grace that echoed his dancing days before rubbing some of the tiredness from his face.  A chorus of hellos burst forth from the other end of the skype call.  

Sehun turned and blew a kiss over his shoulder.  “Just on time, Kyungsoo has to leave soon and he’s really the only helpful hyung out of the whole bunch.”

“I think I can take it from here, boys,” Yixing said, ignoring Chanyeol and Jongin’s offended protestations as he circled behind Sehun and kissed his shoulder.

“Hey, hey, come on,” Sehun giggled, trying to wiggle out of Yixing’s hold.  “I usually charge people for shows like this.”

“Alright,” Chanyeol said, “Sehun, I love you, but if you’re gonna start taking your clothes off then I’m out.”

“Ten years we’ve been friends,” Sehun pouted, “And you don’t even want to see me naked.”

“We don’t have time for that, anyway,” Yixing rocked Sehun back and forth a bit.  “We’ve got a meal to prepare.”

They said their goodbyes and closed the skype window so they could have their full focus on the webpage with the recipe.  Everything went much smoother with Yixing there instead of two unhelpful dudes and one helpful dude with waning patience.  The kitchen still looked like a disaster zone by the time they were finishing up, but that had less to do with culinary incompetence and more to do with the brief flour fight they got into.  Yixing looked unbearably cute with the little flecks of powder dusting his hair and sticking to his cheek.

Around the usual time they’d come to expect, the creaking of the front door alerted them to Baekhyun finally getting home.  Sehun and Yixing danced around each other in a mad scramble to get everything out and on the small table before Baekhyun could even think about doing any of it himself.

“Mmmm,” he moaned, closing his eyes and inhaling.  “It smells amazing all the way down the hall.”

Yixing dropped a quick kiss on his mouth.  “Let’s just hope it tastes as good as it smells.”

It did, thank god.  Baekhyun ate everything they sat in front of him, washing it down with  champagne because, in his words, he wanted to feel fancy.  When their bellies were happy and full, they spent the rest of the evening lounging around lazily.  No one said it, but they were all trying to memorize this moment, keep it fresh and crisp and tucked at the forefront of their memories so that the upcoming summer would be easier to deal with.  

Three months.  They could do this.

-

It was nearly 8:30 in the evening, and all of the lights in the living room were on.  Sehun squinted up at the stark white ceiling through the brightness as he listened to the frantic rustling of paper and waited for his phone to vibrate in his hand.  He was stretched out along the length of the sofa, while Yixing sat in the armchair.

Some files slipped off the edge of the coffee table in a graceless avalanche, and Yixing breathed the gentlest uttering of _aw, fuck_ that Sehun had ever heard.

Sehun sprung up from the sofa like he’d been shocked.  “Let me get those.”

He bunched them up and set them back down on the table, adjusting them and the rest of the papers into the neatest piles he could.  There were a _lot_ of papers.  Yixing said he was old school in that way, preferred to have multiple printed copies of everything so he could mark them up.

“He’s only been out of the city for an hour,” Yixing said, flipping through a colossal three-ring binder.  “And he’s going to be tired when he finally gets to the apartment.”

“Yeah, so?”

Yixing smiled, but it looked sad.  “You haven’t put down your phone since you got here.”

Sehun wanted to contest that accusation, but he was literally staring at the home screen of his phone as Yixing said it.  “Doesn’t mean I’m waiting on Baekhyun-hyung.”

For a moment, Yixing was silent, too wrapped up in scrawling messy notes in the margins of his files.  “Maybe.  Maybe it doesn’t mean anything.  I have to make a phone call, sit tight.”

And then Yixing was on his feet, moving into the kitchen and leaving Sehun sitting in the large, empty living room.  There was sterile light coming from everywhere, softening the shadows into nothingness.  Awful lighting for a selfie, but he opened his camera app anyway.

He pulled his sweater up over his nose and stared at his phone with the best downtrodden puppy-dog eyes he could muster.  He was going to upload it to Instagram without a caption, but decided at the last minute to add a short and sweet tag.

_#MissingYou_

Baekhyun would assume it was directed at him.  Sehun would deny it later.

“I’m sorry,” Yixing said when he came back from the kitchen.  “I’m not very good company tonight.”

“You’re here,” Sehun said.  “That’s all I need.”

Yixing only took one break when Sehun sat a freshly brewed cup of coffee in front of him.  The sleepy smile on his face spoke of more gratitude than any words ever could.

Eventually, Sehun started his before-bed ritual.  Wash his face, brush his teeth, fuck around on his phone for much longer than he intended.  Yet, by the time he was feeling all fresh and clean and ready to crawl into bed, Yixing was still working with no apparent end in sight.  Sehun’s voice was dangerously close to a whine as he all but begged Yixing to call it a night and come cuddle him to sleep.  But Yixing just looked up at him with soft eyes and said, “You go ahead.  I’ll be in before you know it.”

He wasn’t.  Sehun waited.  He spent an hour scrolling through his phone, got one short text from Baekhyun that simply said he made it safely followed by a million sleepy emojis and the promise of a better update in the morning.  Sehun fell asleep with his phone still in his hand, that message lighting up the screen.

It felt like hours and hours later when the bedside lamp kicked to life, pulling Sehun from sleep.  He blinked in drowsy confusion before he felt fingers brushing his fringe from his forehead.

“I’m sorry,” Yixing whispered.  “I’ll turn it off in a minute.”

Sehun pushed himself up onto his elbows and glanced blearily at the clock.  3:42.

“Shit,” he muttered, eyelids heavy.  “You work too much.”

“I already got the okay to not leave here until nine tomorrow.”

“Wow, that’s…” Sehun was too tired to even try to do the math, “Still not the recommended seven hours.”

“Not exactly,” Yixing murmured, and suddenly the room was plunged back into darkness with only the faint glow of Seoul shining behind the curtains to cast shadows.  Sehun felt the bed dip, heard a quiet _goodnight_ , and that was it.  The space between their bodies was a yawning gulf, far too cold and open for Sehun’s taste.  He reached blindly behind himself, pawing at Yixing.

“C’mere,” he muttered, dragging Yixing’s arm around him.  “Want cuddles”

Yixing rolled into his body easily, curling up with his nose nuzzling just behind Sehun’s ear.  Sehun linked their fingers and dragged Yixing’s hand to rest just over his belly.

“Shouldn’t the taller person be the big spoon?” Yixing asked, sounding far too awake.  “Or is this okay because I’m older?”

“It’s called–” Sehun paused as a wide yawn interrupted him,“– Jetpacking.  When the shorter person is the big spoon.  You’re my jetpack.”

He slipped back into sleep just as he heard Yixing giggling a bit deliriously at that.

-

In the morning, Sehun dragged himself out of bed before Yixing left for work.  He brushed his teeth in a half-asleep haze and turned down the coffee Yixing offered him.  He’d have some when the taste of mint was out of his mouth.  Coffee and toothpaste was worse than coffee and orange juice to him.

It was clear from looking at him that Yixing had a rough night and still needed more sleep.  He kept rubbing his eyes, pushing his thumbs into the shadows underneath them and failing to hide his jaw-cracking yawns.  Even now he was working, laptop open next to his half-eaten bagel and that old three-ring binder taking up a good chunk of the table.

“You don’t get enough sleep,” Sehun remarked.

“‘M fine,” Yixing said, even as he rubbed his lidded eyes.  Sehun didn’t press the issue.  Around the time Yixing started to shove things in his briefcase in preparation to run out the door, Sehun finally decided to check his phone.  There was a missed call and two texts from Junmyeon, eight snapchats from Jongin, a bunch of social media updates, and one message from Baekhyun.

_baby sehunneeeee i saw yr sad little eyes and mushy tags on insta is that what happens when i leave for 10 minutes??  fxxkin qt pie give our yx a big slobbery kiss 4 me xoxo_

“What’s got you all smiley?” Yixing asked as he shrugged his jacket on.

“Nothing,” Sehun said.  “Come here a minute.”

When Yixing was within arm’s reach, Sehun wrapped a hand around the back of his neck and pulled him close, until Yixing was leaning over and their foreheads were almost touching.

“This is from Baekhyun,” he said, and gave Yixing the sloppiest kiss he could manage without making it completely horrible.

When he pulled back, Yixing’s eyes were closed and there was a small, almost bashful smile on his face.  Some of the haggardness from before was gone, and his hard edges were softened a bit.

“So,” he opened his eyes, “If that one was from Baekhyun, can I have one from you, too?”

Sehun rolled his eyes, but he kissed Yixing again.  Softer.  Sweeter.  When he pulled away, they were both smiling.

-

The apartment stopped smelling like felt-tip marker and overbearingly fruity cologne far too quickly.  In the quiet evenings, when Yixing claimed the coffee table as a makeshift desk and Sehun would kick his feet up and dick around on his laptop, they missed the sounds of pens rattling in the tin cup Baekhyun kept them in as he rooted around for the right one, the clacking of keys on his laptop, the gentle singing under his breath when he was concentrating and the obnoxiously loud singing when he wanted everyone to concentrate on _him_.

They missed Baekhyun.

Once, Sehun came home at half past four in the morning to the soft sounds of Yixing’s voice coming from the bedroom.  As he riffled through the fridge for a quick bite to eat, he assumed it was a poorly timed work call.  But the more he sat in the dim light of the dining room and poked at the cold leftovers that were saved for him, the more he could feel the tenderness in Yixing’s voice, even from so far away.

He abandoned his food and made the short trek down the hallway.  As Yixing’s voice grew louder, Sehun realized he was talking to Baekhyun.  Soothing him.  Calming him down.  Sehun pushed the door open to see Yixing sitting up against the headboard in his pajamas, hair wild and eyes tired.

“Baekhyun,” he said, watching Sehun strip down to his boxers and crawl sleepily on the bed, “Sehunnie is home.”

“Put it on speaker,” Sehun said, and flopped straight down with his head on Yixing’s thigh.

“Sehun?” Baekhyun’s voice was thick and tight, dripping with the telltale tone of tears shed not too long ago even through the muffled quality of the call.

“I’m here,” Sehun took the phone and rested it on his chest as Yixing carded his fingers through his hair.  “What’s up?”

“Nothing, nothing,” Baekhyun sniffled a bit, and Sehun felt his heart break.  “I’m just freaking out over nothing.”

“Wanna tell me what that nothing is?” Sehun asked, and Baekhyun did.  Insecurities they all could have expected.   _Am I doing the right thing, is this just a giant waste of time and money, am I smart or strong or good enough to even finish what I started here?_

Sehun told him the truth.

He told him that he was amazing.  That Sehun couldn’t imagine doing everything Baekhyun did – balancing work and school and life and moving to a completely new city on short notice and working his ass off far away from his family and friends. They talked until Baekhyun’s voice came across as less plugged and wet, and they even got him laughing a bit.

When Sehun finally hung up, the sun was tinting the sky pink.  He felt awful, like he should hop on a train right now and find Baekhyun, tell him all the things he deserved to hear in person.

“Soon,” Yixing promised.  “We’ll see him again soon.”

Sehun nodded.  “It’s saturday.  We can sleep in today, come on.”

He fell asleep to light peeking over Yixing’s shoulder, wondering what the sunrise looked like in Busan.

-

They visited Baekhyun twice.  The first time was only a week after the phone call, and their schedules only allowed two days.  They took a train that arrived half an hour later than it should have, leaving them anxious and restless and a little bit frantic when they finally got to touch Baekhyun again.  They didn’t waste time with much beyond each other, not with sight-seeing or going out to dinner or bar hopping in the evening like they sometimes did at home.

In fact, they didn’t leave the apartment at all that weekend.  They splurged on expensive takeout and crammed together on Baekhyun’s too-small loveseat, sitting on each other’s laps, tangling their legs together to fit.  They watched movies, but ignored most of them in favor of talking and touching and kissing each other.

Baekhyun’s moans, the hitching of his breathing, Yixing’s low voice whispering praise into his skin, nothing sounded sweeter.  And the feel of him in Sehun’s hands, all soft and sweet and just a little too skinny from overworking himself – it was like a homecoming of sorts.

Sehun realized just how much he missed the shape of Baekhyun pressed against him.  He loved Yixing’s company, loved Yixing, but they both felt the absence of their third party all too acutely in the last few weeks.  It was like it took the three of them together for things to click just right.

The morning they had to leave, Baekhyun went with them to the train station.  They couldn’t kiss each other goodbye, not here, so they took care of that before they left the apartment.  But they could hug each other, could drag each other into a firm embrace that would have to last them for weeks.  Baekhyun wound up sandwiched between Sehun and Yixing.

Too soft for anyone else to notice, Yixing planted a kiss just under Baekhyun’s ear.  A small, stolen thing that would be easy to miss, easy to mistake for him murmuring something quietly for Baekhyun to hear.  It was likely that nobody at the station noticed it.

But Sehun noticed it, and it made him smile.

-

The fourth gift was extremely indulgent on Yixing’s part.

“I have no idea if you’ll even like it,” he said, uncharacteristically fidgety with a nervous excitement.  Sehun tried to peek inside the bag he was holding, but Yixing held it away from him.  “And if you don’t, let me know, that’s fine.  But at least let me put it on you.”

So Sehun closed his eyes, fiery sunshine beyond the living room window turning his vision warm as he felt Yixing approach him.  Fingers at his neck, brushing the sides, and then something pulling firmly across the width of his throat as Yixing fastened it behind his neck.

A choker.  Made of velvet, from the feel of it, with something dangling at the middle.  A jewel, maybe.  Sehun felt himself flushing pleasantly as he asked, “Can I open my eyes now?”

“Yeah.”

When he did, he was met with the sight of Yixing completely transfixed by the choker.  His gaze was sharp and intense, so strong that Sehun could almost feel it against his skin next to the soft material.

“So,” Sehun rolled his head a bit to feel the fit of it, “Is this supposed to mean you own me?”

“No,” Yixing brushed his fingertips along the band.  “It means you have a pretty neck that looks really nice like this.”

Sehun arched an eyebrow.  “So it’s _not_ a sex thing?”

Yixing licked his lips.  “It wasn’t supposed to be, no.”

“Wasn’t _supposed_ to be?” Sehun grinned.  “And now?”

Instead of answering, Yixing bit his lip and looked away, blushing a little through his bashful grin.  It wasn’t often that he got shy like this, and Sehun loved it.  The sun was still high in the sky and unobstructed by the lazy clouds sitting at the horizon this early in the evening, illuminating him in a bright glow.  Sehun felt the weight of the choker around his neck, the warmth of of Yixing’s body so close to his.

“You look,” _handsome beautiful stunning absolutely gorgeous i can’t believe i get to look at you let alone touch you and love you –_ “A lot.”

Yixing laughed.  “Right back at you.”

“Does it look good?” Sehun asked, arching his neck back a little.  He knew it did, could tell by the heavy heat in Yixing’s eyes, but he wanted to hear the praise out loud.

“Here,” Yixing grabbed Sehun’s hand and started tugging him down the hallway and into the bathroom.  “Take at look for yourself.”

He was pushed in front of the bathroom mirror, Yixing behind him on his tiptoes so he could put his chin on Sehun’s shoulder.

“Pretty, aren’t you?”

Sehun owned necklaces, but he never considered wearing a choker.  The thick black band hugged his throat, made it look almost dainty.  The fabric tapered in the middle, pinched by a tiny golden ring.  And from that dangled a small charm.  It was the kind of thing he’d seen girls wearing in clubs before.  Sometimes Minseok liked to wear them onstage, but those were always much cheaper and thinner, practically shoelace next to the well-fitted fabric stretching across Sehun’s neck.  It looked _really_ fucking good on him, he decided.

“Do you like it?” Yixing asked, lips brushing Sehun’s neck, and Sehun realized he’d been gaping at himself in the mirror for a solid thirty seconds.  He turned around and gave Yixing a quick kiss on the mouth.

“Yeah.  I do.”

“Good,” Yixing gave him another kiss right back.  “I’m glad.  It looks good.”

“Thank you,” Sehun said, and kissed Yixing again.  And then again.  And again.  And soon Sehun was clumsily pushing Yixing backwards, out of the bathroom and across the hall to the bedroom.  Because apparently, they both got off on this whole gift-giving thing.

It helped that the gift was a _fucking choker_.

Yixing fell back onto the mattress without a fight, spreading his legs wide as Sehun settled between them.  Their clothes came off slowly, shirts pooling at their elbows and socks getting stuck on their toes, but soon they were naked and touching down the lengths of their bodies.

Well, mostly naked.  The choker stayed on.

After a while, Sehun tried to move so he was straddling Yixing’s hips, in the perfect position to ride him, but Yixing wouldn’t let him as he locked his legs around Sehun’s waist.  Sehun giggled into his mouth as he tried to wriggle free, but Yixing was determined to keep him in place.

“As much as heavy petting never gets old,” he said, once he came up for air, “I’d really, _really_ like to get your dick in me.”

“No,” Yixing shook his head, “Wait a minute.”

“Hyung – is something wrong?” Sehun asked.  He tried to pull away, but Yixing looped one arm around his shoulders and dragged his free hand down Sehun’s neck, nails catching on the choker a bit.

“Hang on, It’s just that I –” he closed his eyes, as if bracing himself, “I want to do something different.”

“Oh?”

Eyes still closed, he murmured quietly, “I want you to – to fuck me.”

“Oh,” Sehun breathed.  “ _Oh_ , hyung.  Are you – you mean that?”

Not once had Yixing bottomed for Sehun or Baekhyun.  It wasn’t an issue, they just figured he didn’t like it.  Which was fine, since both of them were more than happy with doing it themselves.  But even that pulsing desire to get really well fucked couldn’t win out when Yixing was presenting himself like this, spreading his legs wider with a hint of shyness.

He was trusting Sehun to take care of him.  Sehun flushed hot, sweat itching a bit under the band of the choker that still wrapped prettily around his neck.

“Yeah,” Yixing said, eventually.  “Come on, Sehunnie.”

Five minutes later, Sehun had Yixing all spread out, legs wide open and a finger pressing inside of him.  This Yixing was already different from the Yixing Sehun was used to during sex.  Where Yixing was normally intense and sharp and focused, he was now boneless and hazy and yielding.    The second finger made his hips jump and roll, lips drawn together in a pout so cute that Sehun just had to kiss it.  The third finger had him arching and sweating and almost looking like he was on the verge of begging.

By the time Sehun pulled his fingers out and shoved a pillow under Yixing’s hips, he felt high on a power trip.  The first steady press of his cock made Yixing grunt and hiss, fingernails digging into the curve of Sehun’s bicep.

“Hyung,” Sehun stilled.  He was afraid of hurting Yixing, afraid he didn’t prep him enough.  “Are you okay?”

“ _Ah_ ,” was all Yixing could get out at first, just a tiny breathy choked noise.  “Uh-huh.  It’s just been a while.  Keep going.”

So Sehun kept rocking into him, pushing deeper with each roll of his hips.  Yixing bit his bottom lip and twisted the sheets up in his hands and giggled a little bit when Sehun distracted him from the stretch with soft kisses under his jaw.

And then, from the bedside table where it was charging, Yixing’s phone began to ring.

“No, no, no, no,” Sehun grabbed Yixing’s hands and pinned them next to his head, dipped down to suck a diversionary kiss under his jaw.  “You’re off the clock, no phone calls tonight.”

“Wait, wait,” Yixing giggled as he wriggled in Sehun’s hold, “That’s Baekhyun’s ringtone.”

Sehun relented immediately.  “Facetime him.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah,” Sehun grinned.  “I wanna see him.”

Yixing reached out and grabbed the phone, answering the call and putting it on speaker.

“Hello, Baekhyun-ah,” he said, voice a bit breathy.

“Hello!” Baekhyun answered back.  He sounded oblivious as he immediately launched into a detailed recollection of his day, talking about something funny one of his co-workers said, wondering aloud if he should make instant noodles or just a sandwich for dinner.  It was a long moment before Yixing managed to interrupt his train of thought.

“Baekhyunnie,” he said, “Are you alone?”

“What?  Yeah, I’m at the apartment.  Just wanted to check in.”

“I’m facetiming you,” Yixing said as he sat up a bit, propping himself up on his elbows.  “Be ready.”

There was a mumbled _okay_ from the other end before Yixing sent the facetime request through.  Sehun sat still and ran his hands down Yixing’s thighs, wishing he could see Baekhyun and not just the back of the phone.  It was worth it to at least hear him, though.

“What, is my beautiful voice not enough?” Baekhyun teased.  “Gotta see my beautiful face – oh _fuck_.”

Sehun could hear the moment the lightbulb went on.

“Oh,” Baekhyun said again, voice colored in the filthiest mirth, “Oh, isn’t that just naughty?  What ever happened to good old fashioned phone sex?”

“This is phone sex in the 21st century,” Sehun said.

Baekhyun gasped and _oohed_.  “You’re not alone, are you?”

In reply, Sehun gave sudden, experimental roll of his hips, just to see what would happen. As expected, Yixing choked out a moan and let his eyes fall shut.  His grip on the phone faltered slightly.

“Shit, that’s hot,” Sehun heard Baekhyun say.  “Is he like, riding you?  Does he feel good?”

Sehun jerked his hips again, a bit harder than before, and Yixing _did_ let the phone fall to the bed that time.  A loud protest from Baekhyun got lost in the folds of the duvet as Yixing clumsily groped for the phone and Sehun tried his best to fuck him into total clumsiness.

“Show him,” Yixing’s voice was strained as he finally picked the phone back up and handed it to Sehun.  Feeling a bit flustered and excited, Sehun changed the camera from the front-facing view to the forward one.  He could see Baekhyun watching intently as he dragged the camera down Yixing’s body until the picture finally reached where his cock was slowly pumping in and out of Yixing,

“Holy shit,” Baekhyun gaped.  “Are you – is he letting you–”

Sehun responded by fucking into Yixing harder, making him gasp.  

“More like that,” he murmured, running one hand through his messy hair.  “Come on.  Fuck me, Sehunnie.”

“Show me his face,” Baekhyun begged.  “I wanna see his face when you fuck him.”

It took all of Sehun’s concentration to keep the camera focused as he started to pick up the pace, using his free hand to angle Yixing’s hips just right as he let loose.  That’s when Yixing’s pretty noises _really_ started spilling past his lips, gentle gasps and needy whines.  He arched his spine and threw his head back, hair fanning against the pillows as he worried his bottom lip between his teeth.  The picture was a bit choppy, but the warm light streaming in through the windows illuminated him perfectly.  

Suddenly there was a thump on the other end of the call, accompanied by the picture blurring until it refocussed again on the ceiling.

“Still with us, Baekhyunnie?” Sehun asked, slowing down a bit and letting himself and Yixing catch their breath for the moment.

“Give me a minute,” Baekhyun said, voice almost lost in the loud rustling.  “I’m taking my pants of, just give me a minute.”

Sehun met Yixing’s eyes, and the two of them nearly cracked up at the sheer absurdity.  But it wasn’t long before Baekhyun was back in the picture.

“Go on,” Baekhyun panted.  “Keep going.”

“Didn’t realize I needed your permission, hyung,” Sehun teased.

“Oh, quit being such a brat and fuck Yixing, will you?”

Sehun just barely managed to keep from snorting at the whine in Baekhyun’s voice as he complied, fucking into Yixing with hard, deep strokes.  For some reason, he’d never really considered doing something like this – webcam sex, that is, or filming sex at all.  He’d be lying if he said he didn’t like it, didn’t get the same sort of thrill he felt when he knew he had dozens of eyes on him during a dance.  All those people watching him twist and turn and roll his body so well that he could have every one of them begging for more, for just one touch.  He _wanted_ to put on a show, give Baekhyun something to remember later.

Maybe he was a little bit of an exhibitionist after all.

“Hang on,” Yixing propped himself back up on his elbows after a short while.  “Pull out a minute.  I want to ride you.”

“Holy fuck,” Baekhyun sighed.  “Sehunnie, you _have_ to let him ride you.”

They set the phone aside as they repositioned, and in no time Yixing was sinking down on Sehun’s cock, taking most of him with only a small grimace.  The tightness has Sehun groaning even louder than Yixing.  That power trip from before dissolved as Yixing took complete control, setting the pace, holding Sehun down.  He even grabbed the phone and started filming Sehun instead.

“By the way,” he grinned, gyrating his hips as he sat fully in Sehun’s lap, “I got our Sehunnie a new present.  How does it look on him?”

The phone was suddenly much closer to Sehun.  He hid his face behind his hands in embarrassment, but he didn’t cover up his neck.  No, he wanted Baekhyun to see it – to see how pretty he looked in his new gift.

“Daddy’s so good to you,” Baekhyun sighed blissfully, and Sehun hated how predictable he was when that got a sweet little groan out of him.  Baekhyun was just playing dirty.  “Buys you gifts, lets you fuck him.  What do you say?”

“T-thank you,” Sehun stuttered, fingers digging hard into Yixing’s hip.  “Thank you, daddy.”

Yixing let out a soft laugh before his face darkened again and he murmured, “I only do it because you’re always such a good boy for me.”

The praised washed over Sehun, sparking pleasure down his spine that had his toes curling.  Over the rush in his ears, he could make out Baekhyun whining about the blurry picture, about Yixing bouncing too much for him to be able to see anything.

“Just listen,” Yixing panted.  “I’m going to make our Sehunnie come.”

And he did, not too soon after.  Sehun arched and moaned and tried his damnedest to fuck up into Yixing, but Yixing held him down and kept in control through all of it.  Condoms weren’t really a thing for them anymore – Junmyeon sprung to have all of his dancers tested regularly and Yixing was careful with his health.  But Yixing still pulled off of Sehun right before he came, reaching back behind himself to stroke Sehun the rest of the way.

His come landed in the small of Yixing’s back, a little bit on his ass.  Sehun could feel it when he dug his fingers into Yixing’s skin, tried to pull him close as Yixing grinned with more than a little smugness from above him.

While Sehun tried to catch his breath, Yixing crawled up the bed a bit until he was straddling Sehun’s chest.  Through his post-orgasm haze, Sehun tried to crane his neck up to take Yixing’s cock into his mouth, but Yixing stopped stroking himself long enough to twine his fingers in Sehun’s hair and tug his head back down to the pillow.  He couldn’t use the other hand, of course, because it was still holding the phone.  Sending all of this to Baekhyun, who was making his own pretty noises now.

“You’ll fuck up your neck,” Yixing breathed, obviously close, and went back to stroking his cock inches from Sehun’s mouth.  “Let me do this.”

“Wait,” Sehun whined, “You’ll get the choker dirty.”

“Well, then,” Yixing said from above the phone, hand moving even faster, “You’d better catch it all in your mouth.”

Sehun didn’t, but Yixing’s aim was partly to blame.  It hit his tongue, his upper lip, skidded across one cheek and forced Sehun’s eyelids to flutter shut, but none of it dropped down to his neck.  His fingers were at his face before that could happen, scooping up the excess and pushing it into his mouth, licking his fingers clean.  Baekhyun watched it all happen though the camera, and loudly sung his praises.

“Fuck, just like that,” he groaned, voice rough and beautiful.  “Look so fucking good when you’re all messy.”

Pleased as could be, Sehun sucked the last of it off his finger, pulling it out of his mouth with an audible pop.

“You’re so gross,” Yixing teased, wrinkling his nose up like he wasn’t the reason Sehun got covered in come.  He collapsed on the bed next to Sehun, sluggishly fiddling with the phone until the front-facing camera was on and they were both squeezed into the picture.

“As if you don’t like it,” Sehun pecked him on the cheek.

“Less cute cute post-coiltal talk, more dirty talk,” Baekhyun all but demanded from the other end of the line.

“Show us what you’re doing, Baekhyunnie,” Yixing prompted.  “I want to see you working your cock.”

With a blissful sigh, Baekhyun did, showing them his pretty fingers stroking over himself.  Sehun and Yixing lazily kissed each other, eyes unfocused and mouths curling at the corners, but it was enough of a show for Baekhyun to jerk himself to orgasm with a pretty whine in the back of his throat.

“You came just from that?” Sehun teased as Yixing kept dotting playful kisses across his cheekbones.

“Uh-huh,” Baekhyun whimpered, chest heaving.  There was laughter in his voice when he added, “I feel like I just got fucked.”

“I’d call that a success,” Yixing murmured sleepily.

“Stay with me, old man,” Sehun said, taking the phone out of Yixing’s lax grip and jumping slightly when Yixing poked him in the side.

Baekhyun switched camera modes again, so that his face was back in the picture.  He looked just as lazy and fucked out as Sehun and Yixing felt.  “I still can’t believe you let him fuck you, hyung.”

“Eugh, I know,” Yixing wiggled a bit so he was lying mostly flat on the bed.  “I’m gonna be so sore.  And I have your come, like, _everywhere_.”

“Now you know how I feel,” Sehun complained.

“Don’t act like you don’t like it,” Baekhyun said.  “ _Either_ of you.  I heard those noises you made, hyung.   _Oh, Sehunnie, fuck me harder~!  Yes, yes, yes_ –”

“Hey!” Yixing reached for the phone, but Sehun held it out of his reach as Baekhyun pretty convincingly faked an orgasm.  “I didn’t sound like _that_!  Come on, mute him, Sehun-ah.”

“Jesus, Baekhyunnie,” Sehun laughed, lazily fighting Yixing off, “Why do you put the effort into stripping when you could just go into the phone sex business?”

“I only have phone sex with people I really like,” Baekhyun said.

Oddly enough even _that_ made Sehun’s heart flutter a little.

-

The next week, he wore the choker to the club.  Not on the clock or anything.  Just on his way there.  It sent a thrill through him for some reason, had his fingertips tingling pleasantly when he subconsciously rubbed at it.  It didn’t feel so much like a collar anymore.  Instead, it felt almost like a bow.  Like he was a present, all wrapped up and showing himself off.

It wasn’t until after his shift, when he decided to put it back on for the trek home, that anyone noticed it.

“Ooh, that’s hot,” Minseok said, naked and sweat-slicked as he crowded against Sehun in the locker room.  “You should wear it on stage some time.”

“Hey, come on,” Sehun whined, pushing at Minseok’s shoulders. “You’re going to get my clean clothes all sweaty.”

“Such a diva,” he poked Sehun’s ribs.  “Gonna hose off and head out.  Night night, boys.”

“Night, hyung,” Sehun and Jongin both called out in unison as Minseok disappeared into the showers.  Sehun was packing up the last of his stuff when Jongin moved to stand next to him, drawstring bag hanging from his shoulder as he leaned lazily against the wall.  His eyes were on Sehun’s neck.

“It is nice,” he said.  “Seems like you’ve got some pretty expensive tastes these days.”

“What?”

“Come on,” he gave Sehun’s shoulder a little shove.  “You think I haven’t noticed you flexing that watch?”

Sehun pouted.  “I don’t… Flex.”

“Yeah sure,” Jongin teased.  “So where exactly are you finding the cash to reinvent your wardrobe lately?”

“I’m not the one buying all of it,” Sehun said before he could think better of it, because he was tired and his brain was working at half-speed.  But the words were out there, and Jongin’s face was showing curiosity.

“Don’t tell me you stole someone’s credit card info.”

“It was, uh,” Sehun pointedly avoided Jongin's eyes, “A gift.”

Jongin grinned.  “I knew it.”

“Knew what?”

“That you found yourself a sugar daddy.”

Sehun rolled his eyes.  “If that’s what you want to believe.”

“I can’t believe you have a sugar daddy!” Jongin exclaimed like it was a victory.  “What happened to that sweet, unapproachable, moody asshole who would only spread his legs for men who stood over 185 centimeters?”

“I’m not a moody asshole,” Sehun insisted.  “I just have angry eyebrows that nobody can see past.  And he’s not a sugar daddy.  He’s just a good friend.”

“Right,” Jongin laughed, “A good friend who you sleep with and get expensive gifts from.  I’ve heard _that_ one before.”

“Who says I sleep with him?”

Jongin leveled him with a flat look.  “Sehun, this is _me_ we’re talking about.  I know you.  I know how you get when you pick up a fuckbuddy.”

Sehun scratched the back of his neck.  Fuckbuddy.  Right.

“Or,” Jongin said, “A boyfriend.”

There it was, finally out in the open, and it had to come from Jongin’s mouth.  Sehun tried not to blush and smile as he dumbly blurted out, “No!”

Jongin laughed in his face.  “Yeah, really convincing, Sehunie.  But, hey–”

He slung an arm over Sehun’s shoulder and drew him close.

“No worries,” he said, drawing his fingers across his lips.  “Your secret’s safe with me.  But honestly, I think you should embrace this whole sugar daddy boyfriend thing.”

Sehun was really blushing now, trying to hide his face as Jongin jostled and teased him.  “Come on,” he said, wrapping an arm around Jongin’s waist, “We’ve got a bus to catch, let’s go.”

Later, when he’d finally gotten home, he snuggled happily into Yixing’s side under the covers.  Before he fell asleep, he texted Baekhyun about a million heart emojis and kissed Yixing’s temple.  In the early morning light with the word _boyfriend_ buzzing in his head, he let himself be greasy like that.

-

The second time they visited Baekhyun, Yixing took a vacation day and Sehun missed out on a busy weekend so they could drive down on Friday evening and leave Monday evening.  Summer was in full swing, and they spent the trip with their windows down and the music turned up.  Sehun pushed the passenger seat back as far as he could and rested his feet up on the dash, something Baekhyun wasn’t allowed to do because of the way his toes always smudged up the windshield.  

It was after dark when they finally made it to Baekhyun’s apartment.  Sehun called when they were about thirty minutes away so that Baekhyun could order them some food.  Five minutes before they showed up, Baekhyun sent Sehun a text.

_gonna shower but the front door is unlocked if u get here while i’m in there ;))))_

Not ten seconds after Sehun stepped through the front door and dropped his bags next to the couch, Baekhyun came running down the small hallway that branched off to the bathroom.  His hair was curling slightly and sopping wet, sending water droplets flying to seep dark patterns into the shoulders of his oversized sleep shirt.  He launched himself at Sehun, actually _launched_ himself, so his feet were off the ground and curled tightly around Sehun’s waist.  They were both screaming excited incomprehensible hellos as Sehun spun them in unsteady circles.  It was a miracle he didn’t trip over anything in Baekhyun’s tiny living room.

“What the hell are you two doing?” Yixing asked, a bewildered smile sitting on his face.  Baekhyun started wriggling, and Sehun lowered him to the ground so he could skip over to Yixing and plant a kiss right on his mouth.

“Missed you,” he said, grabbing both of Yixing’s hands and swinging them.  “Missed you guys a lot.”

“Yeah,” Yixing’s smile was soft, practically adoring.  “We can tell.”

Baekhyun scoffed.  “That’s not what you’re supposed to say!  You’re supposed to say something like, _oh, Baekhyunnie, my beautiful little genius, we missed you too!"_

“Oh, Baekhyunnie, my beautiful little–” Yixing began, but the minute Baekhyun thumped his chest in offence, three knocks rang out through the room.  Dinner time.

“I’ll get it,” Sehun offered, and Baekhyun told him it was already paid for.  He pulled the door open and let the delivery man pass him bag after bag of food, until Sehun started wondering how the hell they were going to eat all of it.  

When he closed the door and turned around, Baekhyun and Yixing were still holding hands.

-

On Saturday, Sehun woke up at half past nine in the morning.  There was a body draped over him, warm and solid and a little overbearing for how hot it already was today.  It was Baekhyun, he was sure of it.  He could tell by the gentle, almost inaudible snoring right next to his ear.  He’d know that sound anywhere.

The fact that he could hear Yixing in the kitchen was a dead giveaway, too.  The smell of breakfast creeped under the bedroom door, and Sehun smiled at the sounds of Yixing loudly and blissfully singing along to whatever pop song was blaring on the radio.

Contentedness seeped into Sehun’s bones, weighed him down deeper into the mattress.  This was already the best morning he could remember for a long time.

Time was foggy so soon after waking up, and Sehun wasn’t sure if it was only a few seconds or a full half hour before he felt the big fluffy lump at his side start to stir.  Baekhyun lifted his head and blinked blearily, eyelids heavy and drooping.  When he looked down and caught Sehun’s eyes, he smiled.

“Mornin’, beautiful,” he murmured, and yawned.  Baekhyun was all soft edges like this, with puffy eyes and bird’s nest hair, split ends sticking out everywhere.  He needed to get it trimmed.  Sehun looped an arm around his neck and dragged him back down, pulling him close and curling around him.

“Good morning.”

Baekhyun dragged his fingertips across the planes of Sehun’s back in lazy circles.  “You’re gonna suffocate.”

“That’s okay.”

“It’s not,” Baekhyun said, sounding halfway between playful and whiny.  Thankfully, before Sehun could be cuddled to death, the bedroom door was tentatively pushed open and Yixing poked his head inside.

“Wakey wakey,” he said in a singsong voice.  “Food’s done.”

It was slow work, getting Baekhyun and Sehun to finally roll out of bed, but Yixing was nothing if not persistent.  The kitchen was flooded in bright light from the rapidly rising sun, and Baekhyun rested his feet in Yixing’s lap as they ate.  There wasn’t anything planned for the day, so after they finished, Baekhyun showed them some of his favorite spots in the city.  Later, a little bit after noon, they wound up in a large park.

They got ice cream that started melting far too fast, until Baekhyun and Sehun’s fingers were sticky with sugar and Yixing seemed to be calculating the most strategic way to to lick up his own melting ice cream without turning their midday outing pornographic.  He was considerate like that.

The park was pretty packed, mostly with teens and college-age looking kids, throwing frisbees and lying in the sun on colorful blankets spread out in the grass.  There was a large group of people in matching blue t-shirts, each with at least two dogs on a leash.  Yixing cooed in wonder at every four-legged beast that pranced past them.

“Why the hell are there so many?” Sehun asked.  There was a veritable army of dogs.  Big ones with woofing barks.  Tiny fluffy ones with shaved paws, little legs trotting double time to keep up with their larger companions.  Playful ones chasing each other through the grass and old ones with grey around the snouts.

“Oh, there’s a shelter nearby,” Baekhyun explained.  “Every saturday, they camp out in parks and show off their goods, so to speak.  To try to get their dogs adopted out.”

“You mean these little guys don’t have owners?” Yixing asked.  His eyes were earnest and sad, and Sehun nearly choked on his ice cream when he laughed.  That just made Yixing pout harder.  “What?”

“I can’t believe I used to be intimidated by you,” Sehun said, licking down his wrist at a particularly errant drop of runaway ice cream.  “I thought you were this intense rich guy who’d only drink classic vintages out of diamond-encrusted glasses and made a hobby of breaking the hearts of impressionable gold-digging strippers.”

“Oh?” Yixing got that look on his face, the playful one where his brows were high and his eyes were twinkling and Sehun could tell he wanted to kiss him.  “And what do you think of me now?”

“I think you’re a big softie works too hard and needs to take more days like this to spend with your favorite boys.”

Yixing snorted.  “I think I almost prefer the former characterization.”

“Well, too bad,” Baekhyun said.  “We know your true colors now.”

“And those colors are very cute,” Sehun assured him.

“I’m not cute,” Yixing pouted.  It was adorable.

-

The fifth gift was dangerously spontaneous, and came with incredible responsibilities, and was really for all of them even if they said it was Sehun’s.  And looking back, years later, Sehun would always remember it as his favorite gift.

It was a dog.

Sunday morning, they all still had puppies on their mind.  Droves and droves of puppies, begging to be sheltered and showered with love.  

“Why don’t we get one?” Yixing asked that morning, rubbing his eyes and sipping the too-hot coffee Baekhyun brewed for them.  “I’ve been wanting a dog for years, honestly.”

“Wait,” Sehun paused with his own mug halfway to his lips.  “Seriously?”

“Hey, that’s a good idea!” Baekhyun grinned.  “Think about it, there’s almost always someone at the apartment because of our work schedules.  And it’ll give Sehun someone to hang out with during the day when I’m at classes and you’re working.”

“And it’ll give me someone to keep me company when both of you are at work and I can’t swing by the club,” Yixing said.

“Yixing-hyung and a little doggie,” Baekhyun sighed dreamily, and then turned to look at Sehun.  “Can you think of anything better?”

Sehun smiled.  “I’ve never had a pet before.”

“Then it’ll be yours,” Baekhyun decided.

“Trying to shift all the responsibilities off on me, are you?”

“You could use some responsibilities,” Baekhyun teased, “To prepare you for when you’re a grownup.  But you’ll probably see it the most, so it makes sense that it would be your dog, right?”

Fair enough.

In the afternoon, they left for the shelter.  Baekhyun and Sehun had a field day, pressing their faces to cages, babytalking every dog in the building and trying to see which one liked them the best.  They’d decided even before going in that they should get a small dog, since there wasn’t much room back at the apartment.  That narrowed it down quite a bit, since smaller dogs were in higher demand in the city, but the thought of a big dog being stuck in their cozy little apartment seemed wrong.

They were led through the shelter by a tall girl who seemed to know Baekhyun.  Her smile was friendly and her nametag read Sooyoung.  She talked animatedly as they went, describing the different breeds they had to offer and explaining which would best suit their living arrangements.

Never before had Sehun met anyone who seemed to enjoy their job quite so much.

She led them into a big room with high windows that were propped open, bringing in a fresh breeze to combat the smell.  The entire back half of the room was fenced-off with a small plastic thigh-high barrier – like a playpen.  Inside, a dozen small dogs yipped and roughhoused and slept even through the chaos banging off around them.  Sehun and Baekhyun were quick to join the other handful of people already playing with the dogs while Yixing opted to stand back with Sooyoung.

Sehun was a little overwhelmed with the idea that they might actually wind up adopting one of those dogs.  Some of them tried to jump on him, balancing precariously on their hind legs.  Some of them shied away from him or outright ignored him altogether.  There was one he kept nearly stepping on because it was practically glued to his ankles.

“This little guy won’t leave you alone,” Baekhyun said, kneeling down to scratch behind the dog’s ears.  It was a small, fluffy thing, with a portly body and curly white fur.

“That one’s a bichon,” Sooyoung called out to them.  “They’re sweethearts, but they need a lot of attention and can be handful sometimes.”

“Sounds like someone I know,” Yixing muttered, and Sehun flashed him a knowing grin.

“Does it have a name?” Baekhyun asked.

“You’re free to rename the dog you adopt,” Sooyoung explained, “But we call him Vivi.”

“Vivi,” Baekhyun scratched him under his chin.  “You like Seuhunnie-ah, huh?  Want him to be your dad?”

They sat in there for an hour, playing with all of the dogs, but mostly Vivi.  Sooyoung left them there to deal with something else, and Yixing tentatively stepped into the pen and sat down on the floor next to Sehun.  At that point, they had worn Vivi down quite a bit, and he was lying in an ungainly sprawl across Sehun’s lap as Baekhyun rubbed one of his ears.

“He’s cute,” Yixing admitted.  He reached out and scratched Vivi’s belly, and Vivi responded by raising his paws and rolling over a little so Yixing had better access.  Sehun felt himself fall a little bit in love.

“I think this little guy is it,” Baekhyun said, and Vivi yawned.  Ten minutes ago, he was bouncing all over the place.  Now he looked ready for a nap.  “What do you guys think?”

“He certainly seems like the best choice in the room,” Yixing said with fondness as he watched the two of them smother Vivi in affection.  “Sehun?”

Sehun smiled.  “I like him.”

And that was that.  They sought out one of the workers and were led into a tiny office.  There were forms to fill out, and a plethora of questions to answer.  No, nobody in the household has any known pet allergies.  Yes, we can afford shots and annual veterinary visits.  No, we don’t have a front yard, but the apartment is roomy and there’s a park in the neighborhood.

They were told their paperwork would be processed some time between then and noon the next day, and they could pick Vivi up after that.  Sehun felt giddy as they crossed the parking lot, Baekhyun’s hand in his swinging happily between their bodies

“I can’t believe we’re getting a puppy,” Baekhyun said, practically skipping as he dragged Sehun along behind him.  “You have to train him really well so that I can’t corrupt him into bad behavior when I come back home.”

“You could corrupt anything, given enough time,” Yixing said, and he managed to make it sound like a compliment.

-

As an intern, Baekhyun didn’t exactly have the luxury of vacation days.  He left monday morning, before Sehun even woke up.  Sehun and Yixing occupied themselves until he got back by heading to the shelter to officially pick up Vivi.  They bought him food and dishes.  A nice sturdy leash.  Two collars, because they were both pretty.  Some toys.  Yixing drew the line at buying him little sweaters, though, even as Sehun pouted and pleaded while the store assistant hid her giggles behind her hand.  

Once they’d bought all the necessities, there were still a few hours before Baekhyun was off the clock.  They went back to the park and spent the afternoon trying to teach Vivi some basic commands, but he was much more interested in chasing leaves and lazing around in the grass.  Sehun was glad to join him in the latter activity.

They headed back to Baekhyun’s apartment when the sun began to sink.  It was bittersweet, sitting around his living room and eating dinner together, slipping Vivi table scraps.  There were still a few weeks of summer left before Baekhyun would pack up and finally head back to Seoul, but the longest wait was over.

They stretched out the goodbye kisses for as long as they could.  Vivi stood at their feet, leash wrapping around their ankles as he wandered between them and begged for attention.  Baekhyun picked him up and planted a kiss on the top of his head.

“Take care of them for me,” he said, a little misty-eyed.  “Don’t let them get into any trouble until I get back.”

Vivi licked his chin in reply.

-

It took about a week for Vivi to properly settle into living at the apartment, but when he did, he turned out to be much more of a blessing than they imagined.  He gave Sehun something to work for, created an actual structure to his life.  There was less time spent sitting on his ass doing nothing and more time training Vivi, or taking him on walks and letting people fawn over him.  Vivi did love the attention.

They were a good match, the two of them.

The ‘no Vivi on the bed’ rule lasted a whopping two weeks.  Yixing enforced it because he didn’t want the bed smelling like a dog.  No matter how much Sehun whined and Vivi stared longingly up at the mattress, he stuck to his guns.

That all changed one morning.  Sehun had stumbled out of the shower, bone-deep exhaustion making his movements sluggish.  His eyes were hardly even open as he calculated a mental approximation of where he’d have to flop to be in the perfect position to cuddle into Yixing’s side.  Except, when he took the dive, Yixing yipped unhappily.

The last Sehun checked, people didn’t make noises like that.  Doggies did.

Since he was lying on a wiggling lump, he groaned and rolled over onto his back, arms and legs flailing pathetically.  The next thing he knew, there was wet snuffling under his ear and blunt claws scratching faint red marks into his skin as Vivi tried to balance himself on Sehun’s chest.

“Help,” he groaned weakly.  “I’m being attacked.”

The mattress shifted as Yixing rolled over to face him, rubbing sleep from his unfocused eyes.  He smiled a bit dopily as he reached out and dragged Vivi off of Sehun and snuggled him close to his chest, even as Vivi fought valiantly against his hold to get back to Sehun.  It didn’t even occur to Sehun, back when he got home, that it was odd that Vivi wasn’t sleeping in his usual place nestled against one of the arms of the couch.

“I thought he wasn’t allowed on the bed,” Sehun pointed out.

“I’ve amended that rule,” Yixing muttered, dropping a kiss on the top of Vivi’s head.  “He’s only allowed in the bed when neither of my boys are here to cuddle me.”

“Aw,” Sehun cooed, “You’re such a big softie.”

He got settled under the covers, tossing and turning until he felt his favorite spot in the mattress – the spot where it dented a bit at his hip from sleeping there every night. Vivi fussed about until he was curled up near their stomachs.

“Sehun?” Yixing murmured,  eyes closed and face smooshed into the pillow.

“Yeah, hyung?”

“I miss Baekhyunnie.”

Sehun could relate.  “So do I.”

“Do you know what tomorrow is?  Or – today, I guess.”

“Hmm?”

“Sunday.”

Sehun smiled a little.  “Ah.”

“I’m not letting you out of my sight.”

“You know I still work, right?”

“Sundays are dead at Suho’s,” Yixing pouted.  “Just stay here.”

“Why don’t you come to work with me?”

“Mm, okay,” Yixing muttered, and that was the last thing he said before Sehun drifted off to sleep.

-

The calendar hanging from the back of the front door swung a bit as Sehun pushed it shut behind him.  He stopped the motion with a steadying hand and smiled when he saw what day it was.  Just a little under a week and a half, and Baekhyun would be back home.

It was hot outside, and the air conditioning felt good after the humidity that assailed him on the ride home from grabbing lunch with Junmyeon.  He wandered into the bedroom and was met with the sight of Vivi lying down on the bed, panting happily as Yixing lay prone on the floor with one arm underneath the huge dresser pushed against one wall.

“Hey buddy,” Sehun hopped up on the bed and let Vivi snuggle into his lap.  “Wanna tell me what Yixing-hyung is doing down there?”

Yixing’s voice was a little muffled as he said, “Your child keeps stealing my socks.  He doesn’t chew them up, he just hides them.”

“I told you,” Sehun said, scratching Vivi’s belly, “He’s very fashionable.  He _wants_ me to buy him tiny sweaters.”

A small huff came from the floor, maybe a laugh.  “We can consider it when it’s not a million degrees out.”

“But it gets cold in the aircon,” Sehun whined, flopping down on his side and pulling his phone out.  He messed around on the internet for a little while, rubbing softly behind Vivi’s ear as Yixing rounded up socks from some surprisingly elaborate hiding spots.  Eventually, he wound up with his torso half under the bed, and then came the whisper of something dragging across the floor.  Sheun peered over the edge of the bed, and his blood froze.

Yixing frowned down at the box in front of him as he leafed through the contents.  “Any particular reason you have a ton of cards that say _My Condolences_ on them hiding under the bed?  There’s like, two hundred of them.”

Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit.

“I…Tuck money into them every month,” Sehun admitted, words stilted.  It sounded silly coming out of his mouth.  “And then I mail them to my mom.”

“Is she okay?” Yixing asked.  “I mean, does she need financial support or something?  Or are you paying back a debt?”

“It’s not something I need you to bail me out of,” Sehun snapped, and regretted it the minute Yixing’s mouth twitched, showing a hint of hurt.  “Sorry, I just–”

Just _nothing_.  He jumped up off the bed, internally wincing at Vivi’s mournful groan, and paced the length of the room for a minute before collapsing in a chair next to the closet.  It’s where they threw their dirty clothes sometimes.  There was a leather belt digging into his ass, and it just made him feel more agitated.  

He felt stupid when he thought about telling Yixing about it.  Yixing was smart and successful and had his shit all figured out.  Sehun just wished he could be more like that.

“Hey,” Yixing, still on the floor, waddled closer on his knees until he was sitting down right in front of Sehun.  There was something like anxiety in his eyes, and he looked a little lost as he reached out and took Sehun’s hands.  His thumbs stroked slow, broad circles against Sehun’s skin, even as Sehun willed his own hands to stay limp.  “Is this something you need to talk about?  Because I’ll listen.  I might not know exactly what to do, but I promise you that I’ll always listen.”

Sehun tried to get an explanation out, with a couple of false starts.  He eventually said, “I wasn’t the best kid.  I didn’t go to university like she wanted me to.  I almost dropped out school a few times.  I... never did what I was supposed to.  She knows I work at Suho’s, and she doesn’t like it.  So I guess, to make up for all the stupid shit I put her through as a kid, I send her back some cash every month.  Since she lives alone, you know?  She doesn’t want anything to do with it, though.  Says it’s dirty, so she puts it in a college fund for my cousin instead.”

“I see,” Yixing cast his eyes downward for a moment.  “When was the last time you actually spoke with her?”

Sehun shrugged a bit petulantly.  “Talked?  Probably over a year now.  I haven’t seen her in longer.  I left the house when I was seventeen.  She didn’t kick me out, but maybe she should have.”

“Seventeen,” Yixing said.  “I bet you’ve grown up a lot since then.”

“Jesus, I hope so.”

“You know, Junmyeon was in the exact same place when he was your age,” Yixing pointed out.  “No education after high school.  Dancing in clubs as his only income.  And now he owns a handful of businesses and lives in a nicer apartment than I do.”

Sehun shrugged, “Junmyeon-hyung is smart.”

“And so are you,” Yixing said vehemently.  “And trust me, Junmyeon has made plenty of bad decisions in his life.  He wasn’t always the model citizen who cuts your checks.”

“Yeah, well,” Sehun sighed, “It still seems kind of pathetic that I can pretty much single-handedly thank him for keeping me from starving to death as an adult.  I feel like I’d be homeless or something if it wasn’t for him.  And for you.  I just want to get shit right without getting by on handouts, I guess.”

Yixing looked like he was considering something for a moment.  “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Do you feel like I patronize you?  When I buy you gifts, I mean.”

Sehun fidgeted a bit uncomfortably.  “I guess I should.  Shouldn't I?”

“I don’t think there are written rules for this sort of situation,” Yixing said.  “I’m asking how _you_ feel.”

“I think… I kind of like it,” Sehun admitted.  "I mean, I want to pitch in for bills and stuff.  But I don't hate the gifts."

There was warmth in Yixing’s answering smile, the kind Sehun just wanted to lie back and bask in.  “Then if it’s okay with you, I won’t stop.”

Finally, Sehun cracked a tiny smile.  “I guess, if you _have_ to.”

Whatever Yixing was about to say got cut short by a groaning from the bed.  They both looked over to see Vivi lazily stretching out before walking to the edge.  Only a moment’s hesitation preceded a graceless dive to the floor.  Yixing reached out and scooped him into his arms.

“Come here you,” he murmured.  “Tell papa that there's nothing wrong with accepting help from people who love him!  And while you're at it, tell him to quit being so silly and talk about his feelings!”

“Give him here,” Sehun held his arms out, and Yixing passed Vivi between them.  He drew the dog close, holding him like a baby as Vivi licked at his face.

“Not to ruin the mood, but I think it might be worth it to call your mom,” Yixing said.  “Just – you know, to check in.  But that’s a decision for you to make.”

“Okay.”

“And _please_ talk to me or Baekhyun or Junmyeon or _someone_ when things like this get to you.”

“Okay,” Sehun repeated.  And then, because he felt weirdly looked after in a way he wasn’t used to, he added, “Hey, Yixing-hyung?”

“Yeah?”

“Are we – as in, you know, all three of us – are we boyfriends?”

Yixing looked confused.  “We live together.  We have regular sex.  We just took a three day vacation to another city to visit Baekhyun.  We adopted a _dog_ together, Sehunnie.”

Sehun hid his face behind Vivi.  “Is that a yes?”

“It’s a yes,” Yixing said resolutely with a smile ghosting at the corner of his lips, “We’re boyfriends.”

Sehun felt his cheeks burn red in delight as he pressed his face into Vivi’s fur.  “Good to know.”

“Now, come on,” Yixing gave the side of his thigh a playful slap, “Help me find the rest of my socks, I know I missed a few.”

“Go on, Vivi,” Sehun set him down as Yixing shuffled away to look under the bed again.  “Show hyung where you hid his old man socks.”

“Just because they’re argyle doesn’t mean they’re old man socks,” Yixing grumbled under his breath.  Sehun sprawled out on the floor next to him, peeking under the bed as Vivi wiggled in between them in curiosity.

The anxiety wasn’t gone, not entirely, but it was calmed for now.  Yixing whined with his fingertips inches away from one of the socks that was under the bed, and Sehun felt some of the tightness in his chest unwind when his longer arms had no problem reaching it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> forgive me for going full cheese here but i had to write vivi into the story bc i just love bichons so much..........


	6. Chapter 6

The day Baekhyun came back home, Sehun was expected at the club by 6:30.  He waited around for as long as he could, eyes darting between his phone and the darkening skyline that turned the windows into mirrors.  Yixing had left for the train station half an hour ago, with Vivi in the front seat since he loved car rides.  Sehun felt a little miffed about that as well.  He didn’t even have his puppy to comfort him right now.

Eventually, he gave up.  He wouldn’t be able to see Baekhyun until he got home later, at ass o’clock in the morning.

At Suho’s, he tried to keep the bitterness brewing in him from showing.  There was excitement, of course, at the prospect of finally having Baekhyun back home.  But the pettier parts of him were fueled by impatience and disappointment at not getting to see Baekhyun before he left.  The hours stretched on painfully slowly.

It turns out his poker face wasn’t quite as good as he thought it was.

“Chin up,” Minseok said without explanation in the locker room, patting Sehun’s cheek as he walked past.  Sehun glanced at Jongin and pointed to Minseok’s retreating back.

“What was that?”

“Good advice,” Jongin said.  He was staring dejectedly at a tiny hole forming near the collar of his favorite mesh top.  “You’re killing the mood.”

“Excuse me?”

Jongin looked up with a frown.  “I don’t know exactly what’s up, but I know it has something to do with Baekhyun and it’s ruining your focus.”

Sehun deflated with a sigh.  “Am I that obvious?”

“Little bit,” Jongin shrugged.  “Now, what does Junmyeon-hyung always tell us about facial expression?”

Sehun’s brow furrowed as he tried to remember.  “Something about how not even the nicest ass will make up for an off-putting face…  Or something.”

“Exactly,” Jongin nodded.  “Puppydog eyes are cute.  Sad eyes are a boner kill.”

Sehun’s frown deepened.  “Seems like a fine line.”

Heaving a put-on sigh, Jongin draped an arm around Sehun’s neck and dragged him to a mirror.

“Look at this,” he said, squeezing Sehun’s cheeks and turning his pout into a fish face.  “How do you think Baekhyun-hyung would feel if he knew you were moping and pouting all through your shift?”

“He’d probably be proud that he has such an impact on my life,” Sehun deadpanned through his puffy lips.

“No,” Jongin released his hold on Sehun’s face, only to flick him in the ear.  “He’d be sad.  Because you’re sad and he hates it when you’re sad.”

“Then maybe he shouldn’t have abandoned me for a cushy internship in Busan for three months.”

Jongin rolled his eyes.  “You’re such an overdramatic brat sometimes.”

Sehun groaned out a wordless whine.  He was half ready to start stamping his feet in petulant frustration.  “I’m just antsy, alright?  I miss him.”

“Hey, come on,” Jongin said, “At least you’ve _seen_ him in the last few months.  That’s more than all of us but Chanyeol and Jongdae can say, and they only visited him once.”

_It’s not the same_ , Sehun almost said, but then he’d have to explain why.

“It’s just,” Sehun struggled to find the right words, “I didn’t get to see him before he came back.  And I’m annoyed.”

“Then go let your frustration out by dancing your ass off,” Jongin suggested, shaking Sehun’s shoulders a bit.  “You’re going to see him tomorrow no matter what, so keep thinking about that instead of getting pissy about not seeing him tonight.”

“Wow, thanks for the support in my time of need,” Sehun deadpanned.

“I only do it because I love you,” Jongin teased, giving Sehun a peck on the cheek as he poked him in the side.  Smiling despite himself, Sehun wriggled out of Jongin’s hold.  “Now come on, papa’s going to wonder why his two best dancers aren’t out on the floor.”

The rest of his shift was uneventful.  He was still off his game a little, but for the most part that didn’t stop the tips from flowing in.  Halfway through the night, he stole enough time to check his phone.  There was no text from Baekhyun, but there _was_ a snapchat from Yixing.

_He fell asleep texting you_ , the caption read.  In the picture, Sehun could make out Baekhyun sleeping on the couch, phone threatening to slip from his limp hand.  Vivi was on the floor next to the couch, staring up at Baekhyun longingly like he was getting ready to jump up and beg for cuddles.  It made Sehun smile.

He took a quick and simple selfie in one of the locker room mirrors –

_I bet he’s just faking so u will princess carry him to bed._

– and rushed back out onto the floor with a weight off his shoulders and a new bounce in his step.  In his head, Sehun tallied that ten second photograph as the sixth gift.  It was the best thing Yixing could have given him right now, short of driving Baekhyun straight to the club.

-

The huge bulging duffel bag stuffed with all of Baekhyun’s clothes from the last three months hadn’t made it more than five feet into the apartment, and Sehun nearly tripped over it as soon as he walked through the door.  He couldn’t even be annoyed at Baekhyun leaving his shit lying around, he could only feel relieved that Baekhyun was finally home.

Of course, Baekhyun was asleep when Sehun went into the bedroom, curled towards Yixing with Vivi dozing behind his legs.  And it wasn’t long before Sehun was asleep, too, lying in a lazy sprawl next to Yixing.

When he woke up, it was to Baekhyun’s voice.  Baekhyun’s very _loud_ voice.

“Come on,” he urged, pinching Sehun’s cheek.  Sehun slapped his hand away and burrowed his face into the pillow.  “You’ve slept long enough, now it’s time to give me attention.”

“Oh my god,” Sehun groaned, “You’re so loud.  What time is it?”

“I dunno,” Baekhyun squinted at the bedside clock.  “Like tenish.”

Slowly, Sehun pushed himself upright, blinking in the harsh light of morning.  Baekhyun was sitting cross legged next to him, Vivi lying lazily across his lap and looking about as ready to be awake as Sehun felt.  But as his sleepiness fell away and the world came into focus, Sehun finally got a good look at Baekhyun.

He was barefaced and smiling with his eyes, looking soft and sweet and right at home in the big bed.  Something unfurled inside of Sehun’s chest at the sight.  Home finally felt like home again.

He rubbed his eyes.  “Sorry I’m kinda grumpy.  I’m still half asleep.”

“That’s okay,” Baekhyun said, and smiled for real.  It was the kind where one corner of his mouth quirked more than the other, showing the slightest hint of teeth.  A little sly and a little smug.  Sehun loved it.  “I know how you can make it up to me.”

“How’s that?”

“Gimme a kiss.”

“Right now?” Sehun asked.  “Haven’t even brushed my teeth yet.”

“I don’t care,” Baekhyun said, and kissed him anyway.  Once softly, and then again when Sehun drew him in close.

“Missed you,” Sehun murmured against his mouth.  “You’re never allowed to leave for that long again, okay?”

“At least my CV is going to look awesome now,” Baekhyun grinned.  He looked tired, a bit worn down.  Lines and shadows around his eyes, not nearly enough color brightening his cheeks.  For three months, he worked hard.  Now, Sehun just wanted to bundle him up in a blanket and pamper him for the rest of his life.

There was a two week break between Baekhyun arriving back home and the start of the semester, and it went by far too quickly.  He only got a chance to work the bar at Suho’s once before there were droves of books showing up in the mail and Baekhyun dusted off the drafting table in preparation for a long semester of work.

Sehun noticed a small piece of paper taped to one corner of it.  There was a list of names with notes next to them that had Sehun’s head spinning.  Heerim Architects & Planners, Kunwon Architects & Engineers, Gansam Architects & Partners – he felt himself wondering if Baekhyun was moving on to another internship so soon.

“What’s this?” he had to ask, tapping the piece of paper.

“Oh,” Baekhyun shrugged.  “Looking at potential places of employment.  Some of those might be a little ambitious to even consider, though.”

“Employment?  Already?”

“I still have a shitload of classes and credits I have to take,” Baekhyun said, “But it’s never too early to look around.”

Sehun nervously scratched the back of his neck.  “And, uh.  Where is it that you’re considering?”

“I have a few places in the city lined up,” he said, giving Sehun a reassuring smile.  “I decided a long time ago I won’t work anywhere but in Seoul.  Hopefully some place pretty close by, but whatever.  I can handle long subway rides.”

“So, you’re not even considering somewhere outside of Seoul?”

“I know what’s important to me,” Baekhyun said.  “I know that I might be able to get a better job in another city or another country, but my life is here.  My family, all my friends.  You and Yixing.  You know how it is.”

“Sounds like, uh,” Sehun began, awkward and unsure of how to talk about this, “It sounds like you’re serious about this thing we’re doing.  The three of us, I mean.”

Baekhyun gasped in mock offence.  “Sehunnie-ah, I’ve always been serious about my love for you!”

He made a kissy face and leaned close, but Sehun blushed and pushed his face away.

“You’re so shameless,” he muttered, but he was happy.

He was _really_ fucking happy.

-

There was a saturday Baekhyun didn’t work, because he had to attend some university function in the early evening and had no idea what time it would be over.  That meant Jongdae was filling in for him behind the bar.  Which meant Chanyeol had to drag his ass out of bed at four in the morning to come pick him up, because Jongdae’s car was a certified deathtrap at the moment.

Which somehow ended with Minseok, Jongdae, Chanyeol, Jongin, and Sehun sitting in a 24 hour bar, just a little hole-in-the-wall joint with cheap booze and a karaoke machine.  Jongdae temped there a lot and knew all the staff, so they managed to sweet talk themselves into enough free drinks to get piss-drunk and stupid in no time.

Minseok, being the only actual responsible adult present, had to drive everyone home.  But since Sehun was too incomprehensible to give directions to his and Yixing’s apartment and nobody would believe him if he told them what neighborhood he lived in anyway, he wound up falling asleep in Jongin’s bed, with Jongin half-crushing him with his giant bear arms.

“I’m going to have bruises,” Sehun groaned into the pillow.  “I’m gonna go home and Baekhyun and Yixing are going to wonder why I look like I got beat up in an alleyway.”

“I’m not _that_ heavy,” Jongin frowned, rubbing his bloodshot eyes.  “Why would Baekhyun be at your house?  And who the fuck is Yixing?  Sounds made up.”

“Why wouldn’t he be?” Sehun asked.  And then, as his gut dropped and his headache increased twofold, he added, “Wait, no.  Ignore that.”

It was before noon, which was disgusting, but they were awake now and intended to power on through their hangovers no matter how much self-induced suffering they were going through.  They guzzled down gatorade, nearly threw up the gatorade, tried some water, and despaired.

Jongin had it about ten times worse, Sehun could tell just by looking at him.  Sehun scrolled through his phone as they sat in near-silence, with the rain pattering on the windows to create the appropriate ambiance of gloom.  The most interesting thing Sehun stumbled across was an Instagram update from Baekhyun that was posted a few hours ago.

He was sitting on the floor in  Yixing’s bedroom, in front of the full length mirror that hung from the closet door.  The phone blocked most of his face, but a flirty wink was visible.  There was a nest of blankets around him but hardly _on_ him.  Most of his naked torso was exposed, save for a little bit of his left side where the blanket was slipping from his shoulder.  His lap and one of his legs were covered, but the other one peaked out teasingly from under the duvet.

_Good look on me? #lazymorning#bareface#bringmecoffee#idemandcoffee_

Cheeky little shit.  Sehun liked it and left a simple comment calling him cute before moving on.

The weather worsened as the late morning rolled into afternoon.  Gradually, they began to feel more like humans and less like bags of trash with live wires jammed into them.  They tried to sit down and play Overwatch, but the power almost immediately went out for half a minute and they took that as a sign from god to not even bother.

“Freezing rain,” Jongin sighed, staring longingly out the window.  “At this point, I wish it would just snow.”

Sehun grunted in agreement and glanced down at his phone to see a text from Baekhyun.

_saw u liked my insta post so here’s one from the “private” collection_

The accompanying picture was… Charming.  Baekhyun’s face was screwed up tight and his tongue was poking out.  To top it off, his thumb was pushing his nose back.  Little shit.

Sehun sent back a reply that said, _Your so handsome hyung I dont know how I can stand it sometimes,_ and got back a concise response almost instantly that said, _i know lol_.  

It was almost an hour before the next text came through.  It also had an accompanying picture, with both Yixing and Baekhyun in it.  Yixing was kissing one of Baekhyun’s cheeks and cupping the other, drawing him close.  Baekhyun pouted through it.

_sorry about the uggo gremlin picutre but he made me take a nicer picture and now he’s punshing me w kisses for bein a brat.  come back home and save me!!!!!_

“I gotta go,” Sehun blurted out.  Jongin looked confused, but he didn’t stop Sehun from hastily leaving five minutes later.

The ride home was miserable.  The rain hadn’t let up at all, soaking through his light jacket.  The bus was late and packed full, forcing Sehun to take a seat near the front.  Every time the doors opened, a gust of ice-cold air chilled his wet skin.  His head was still throbbing slightly, at the crown of his skull, at his temples.  But he was weirdly content knowing that soon, he’d be home with his boys.

The apartment was quiet when he entered.  The rain hammering on the windows seemed to muffle everything.  The light sat heavy and dark, the sounds were soft and far-off.  Sehun could still feel the headache pulsing under his skin, but it seemed to dull as soon as he closed the door behind him.  He felt safe and warm here, even in his damp clothes.

Vivi was curled up in the hallway next to one of the heating vents.  He whined when Sehun leaned down enough to give him a quick scratch behind the ears.  The bedroom door was shut tight, but Sehun could hear gentle murmurings coming from behind it.

He knocked.  There was a startled yelp on the other side of the door, and then muffled laughter.  “Come in!”

Let it never be said that Baekhyun and Yixing wasted any time.  Half an hour ago, they were sending Sehun cute mushy selfies.  Now, they were spooned together on their sides, Yixing rocking steadily into Baekhyun.  The warm lamplight from the bedside clashed with the grey highlights streaming in through the windows, making the slight gloss of sweat on their skin shine.

“I can’t believe you sexiled the dog,” was the first thing Sehun could think to say as he dragged the door closed behind him.  Baekhyun giggled breathlessly.

“You look half-drowned,” Yixing noted.  It seemed like he either hadn’t brushed his hair at all that day, or Baekhyun made a point of fucking it up as much as humanly possible.  With those two, it could go either way.

“Yeah, and I’m still kind of hungover,” Sehun whined.

“Of course everyone has fun the night I don’t work,” Baekhyun said.  His voice was a bit hoarse, and Sehun could only imagine why.  There were dark smudges at the corners of his eyes from where he couldn’t be bothered to take his eyeliner off last night.  Together, he and Yixing painted the perfect portrait of a lazy sunday afternoon fuck.

Sehun sat down in the chair next to the closet and slowly stripped his damp clothes off.  A shiver wracked his frame when the slight chill from outside met the flush spreading down his chest.

“Care to join us?” Yixing asked, grinding against a softly moaning Baekhyun.

Sehun dragged his fingertips across the head of his still mostly-soft cock.  “No.  No, just keep going.”

“Sehun likes to watch,” Baekhyun grinned.  “Good to know.  Let’s give him a show, huh?”

As far as shows go, it wasn’t a spectacular display, but it was still quite the sight.  Sehun noticed that Yixing liked to wrap his hand around Baekhyun’s throat and gently stroke his fingers along the skin.  He thought back to how sensitive Yixing’s own neck had been, how hot his gaze became every time Sehun wore the choker he’d bought him.  Absently, Sehun considered bringing up choking to him, and shivered a bit at the thought of Yixing’s fingers pressing down _hard_.

But not now.  They were all far too lazy and sweet and indulgent for that now.

Baekhyun’s moans rose in pitch, some of them obviously put-on and playful, some of them so loud or sudden that they seemed to surprise even himself.  Sehun could hardly hear the rain over the slick wet sounds of Yixing fucking into Baekhyun, until Yixing started making his own sounds that meant he was close.

“Don’t pull out,” Baekhyun urged, and Yixing could only nod and pump his hips and spill inside of Baekhyun with a groan.

Sehun was hard by then, watching Yixing pant raggedly against Baekhyun’s neck.  He could feel his damp hair curling at his temples as he tried to keep from looking too desperate.  Part of him was waiting for permission, hoping for it, and he was relieved when it finally came.

“Ah,” Baekhyun sighed, wincing a bit when Yixing pulled out and smiling when Yixing peppered his neck with apologetic kisses.  “Okay.  Your turn, Sehun.”

That was all Sehun needed to hear before he was on his feet and crawling on the bed.  He didn’t fuck Baekhyun, he just pressed up against him.  They stroked each other off and showered each other with kisses as Yixing stayed in his spot spooned up behind Baekhyun.  

Yixing couldn’t stop touching Baekhyun, kissing his shoulders and dancing his fingertips down his side, across his hip, dipping his fingers inside of Baekhyun’s still-loose hole just so Baekhyun would playfully slap his hands away and whine about the soreness.  His chest, his hipbone, the webbing between his fingers, the curve of his neck, his red bottom lip.  Yixing lazily dragged his fingers and hands across every part of Baekhyun he could touch.

It was pure unabashed worship, really.  Sehun couldn’t blame him.  It had been a few weeks since Baekhyun came home, but they weren’t quick to forget those slow three months without him.

It wasn’t a surprise when Baekhyun came first, slotted comfortably between the other two, with kisses and caresses pressed into him from all sides.  He shook apart in the way Sehun had gotten so used to – a little loud and unruly, but so pretty.  While he panted through the aftershocks, Yixing finally tore his hands away from Baekhyun’s body long enough to wrap around Sehun’s cock and bring him to an orgasm that rolled its way up his spine and left him tingling down to his toes.

“Please tell me there are tissues on the bedside table,” Baekhyun said, eyes still closed.  Yixing rolled away long enough to grab a handful.  He cleaned everyone up as well as he could, tickling Baekhyun a little and making Sehun whine when his fingers brushed his oversensitive cock.  He tossed the crumpled tissues toward the wastebasket, hoping they made it in but too lazy to check for sure.

A sudden clap of thunder broke open above them, so loud that it rattled the walls.  Baekhyun and Sehun both jumped at the sound.  A moment later, they heard a mournful whine coming from the hallway.

Yixing laughed into Baekhyun’s skin.  “Poor babies.”

“He’s suffered enough,” Sehun insisted, heart still fluttering in his chest from the scare.  “Can we please let him inside?”

“Yeah, sure,” Yixing lazily waved his hand.  “Just let me put on some underwear first.”

When they were modest enough for Vivi’s sensitive eyes, Sehun opened the door and whistled.  Vivi perked up and bounded into the room, heading straight for the foot of the bed where he waited patiently for Sehun to scoop him up and set him down on the mattress.  Sehun did, and crawled under the covers after him.

“Hey guys,” Baekhyun murmured, sleepily curling against Yixing’s side, “Can I talk about something serious for a minute?”

“You don’t need permission for that,” Yixing said.

“How would you feel about me moving in?” he asked in a rush, like he was forcing all the words out in one breath.

“Honestly,” Yixing played distractedly with a strand of hair sticking up at the crown of Baekhyun’s head, “I don’t know why you haven’t already.”

Baekhyun sat up straight and stared down at him.  “What?”

“... What?” Yixing mimicked, looking genuinely confused.

“How come you never brought it up before?”

Yixing shrugged.  “I was waiting for you to come around, I suppose.”

“Can you believe this?” Baekhyun asked, and that time the question was directed toward Sehun. “Real courteous gentleman, making his sweet boyfriend ask for something instead of offering it first.”

Sehun scratched Vivi’s tummy and smiled.  “I had to ask, too.”

“Fine,” Yixing reached out and dragged Baekhyun back down to lie on the bed.  “You can move in.”

And, a little over a month later, he did.

-

Nothing really changed once Baekhyun moved in.

There were still moments where Sehun would come home to an eerily quiet apartment, lights off and curtains drawn.  Moments where Baekhyun would be moody and passive-aggressive and Yixing would be quiet and frustrated and Sehun would roll his eyes and wait for them to simmer down in a few hours.  Or sometimes, there would almost be too much noise, music blasting from a laptop, laughter bordering on cackling bouncing off the walls.

There were new moments, too.  It was nice, having someone with him the entire way home from the club on the nights they worked together.  Moments where they’d squeeze into the shower at 4:30 in the morning before rolling into bed, Yixing sandwiched between them and Vivi out cold somewhere in the folds of the duvet.

Except these moments stopped being, well, _moments_.  They started being life.

-

There was something to be said about Yixing’s work ethic.  There was a lot to be said, actually, and Sehun wasn’t sure he could ever find all the words.  Baekhyun might have been home now, but that didn’t stop Yixing’s frequent work trips.  The pattern was always the same: he would be gripped with an almost frenzied focus on his work, bringing it home every night for at least a week.  And then he’d leave them for a few days, call once or twice while he was away, and then come home looking like his soul had been sucked out.

“I worry about him when these things come up,” Baekhyun said.  They were sitting on the kitchen floor, playing a card game that turned into a drinking game, and Baekhyun was feeling sappy.  “Can you imagine working that hard?  I mean, we work hard, we _earn_ out money, but holy shit.”

“He spends more time on planes than he does in his car, I think,” Sehun agreed.  He held a card up for Baekhyun to see.  “What the fuck do jacks do in this game, again?”

Baekhyun stared blankly at it for a few seconds before smiling.  “I dunno.”

Sehun laughed.  “Hand me the bottle.”

“Nope,” Baekhyun said, taking a swig.  “Get your own.”

“Come on,” Sehun begged, crawling closer as Baekhyun held the bottle away, “Please?”

“Come and get it,” Baekhyun said.  

They forgot about the card game as Sehun crawled closer and Baekhyun leaned farther away, until Baekhyun collapsed backwards and Sehun fell on top of him.  Being the tactical genius he was, Sehun resolved to distract Baekhyun with kisses.  A million drink-sloppy and ticklish kisses, until Vivi got curious enough to trot over and start licking Baekhyun’s face as well.

Sehun’s outstretched hand grabbed for the beer bottle, but found Baekhyun’s hand instead.

“You know what we should do?” Baekhyun asked, scratching behind Vivi’s ear with his free hand.  “We should take care of him.  Since he takes care of us all the time.  Let’s do that, okay Sehunnie?”

So that’s what they did.

The day he came home, Yixing hardly had a foot in the door before they were on him.  Sehun distracted him with a kiss as Baekhyun slipped his briefcase out of his hands and pulled his jacket off of his shoulders.

“What?” Yixing looked around in puzzlement.  “Um, boys?”

“You,” Baekhyun planted a loud kiss on Yixing’s cheek, “Work too much.  Way too much.  So tonight, you aren’t allowed to work any more.  You’re not going to raise a finger to do anything that me or Sehun could do instead.”

“Oh?” Yixing quirked a brow.  “And what if I _want_ to work?”

“Too bad,” Baekhyun said.  “The only thing you’re allowed to do tonight is sit your cute ass down and let us dote on you.”

“I don’t think my ass has ever been called cute before.”

“It’s a adorable,” Sehun interjected helpfully, “Really.”

Baekhyun nodded and gave the ass in question a quick squeeze.  “Sehun doesn’t lie.  You don’t get that pretty from lying.”

Yixing didn’t put up a fight after that.

They made him dinner and fed him dessert, even as he tried to tell them he didn’t need it.  It was made up of small cakes that Baekhyun’s grandmother used to bake, rich even as it sat heavily in their stomachs.  Afterwards, feeling too lazy to do much else, they sprawled out in the living room.  Baekhyun tried to train Vivi to sit while Sehun dug his fingers into Yixing’s shoulders, massaging out a week’s worth of tension.

“God, I’m glad to be home,” he admitted, eyes closed and cheek pressed against the couch cushion as Sehun straddled his back.  “I should start taking you along with me for the company if nothing else.”

“You sure you don’t have a mistress or two tucked away in one of those cities you run off to?” Baekhyun teased.

“Please,” Yixing said, unperturbed, “You two are enough of a handful as it is.”

“The best kind of handful,” Sehun said, making Yixing groan as he pressed hard into a knot.

“I’ve been to so many of these huge, beautiful cities,” Yixing sighed.  “But I’ve never really _seen_ them.  Always too much work to do.”

“We should take a real vacation,” Baekhyun suggested.  “All three of us.  Wait – can you take dogs on vacation?  Make that four.  Just pack up and take off for one of those countries you always visit but never really get to see.”

Yixing hummed.  “I’d rather go somewhere I’ve never been.  See something fresh without thinking about work."

“We could do that,” Baekhyun agreed.

“France,” Sehun said.  “You’ve never been to France, right, hyung?  I bet Paris is pretty.  Or that one palace you can tour.  What’s it called again?”

“Versailles,” Yixing answered, eyes closed and smiling like he was imagining it.  “I’ve heard it’s very beautiful.”

Sehun didn’t care where they went.  They could drag themselves out of the apartment right now and stroll along the Han River in the freezing cold and Sehun could probably find something to enjoy about it.

-

There was an evening in the early winter where Sehun stepped wrong on stage and slipped.  He managed to save it, or at least make it look kind of intentional, but it left him wincing the rest of the night.  It wasn’t bad, and he could still walk on it, but it ached like a motherfucker and caused a slight limp that he had trouble hiding.  Eventually, he caved and got it checked out.

It was a minor tear in the ligament.  Estimated three to five weeks for it to fully heal.  Dancing on it just risked worsening the tear, and he was condemned to wear a giant clunky stabilizing medical boot if he wanted to walk anywhere.  Junmyeon gave him the time off, but Sehun found himself presented with an even greater hindrance than the pain in his ankle: boredom.

Against Junmyeon’s orders, he still went to the club all the time, just to hang out.  They hired a new bartender right before Sehun got hurt, and Sehun wanted to get to know him.  He was a veritable giant of a man who asked to be called Kris on the clock even though his name was Yifan and managed to be likeable despite being the kind of person who wore sunglasses indoors at night.  Sehun endeared himself to him almost immediately, and Yifan quickly became one of the easiest to sweet talk free drinks out of.

One slow sunday night, when Yifan and Jongdae and Baekhyun were all working the bar, Sehun hobbled his way in on his bulky boot.  It was less than an hour later when Jongdae gestured behind Sehun with a curious tilt to his smile and said, “Another one of your regulars.”

It was Yixing, who seemed to have come straight to the club from a business dinner with a client.  His hair was slicked back and still perfectly coiffed in the way that made him seem sharper and more intimidating than he had any right to look.  His shoulders were tense, movements stilted.  That told Sehun right away that the meeting wasn’t a nice friendly pleasant one, but the kind where Yixing had to steel himself against the biting words of a less than agreeable client.

The minute his eyes found Sehun leaning against the bar, his face opened up.  Before Sehun could greet him, he practically whined, _come here, baby_ , and dragged Sehun into a hug.

“Well, hello to you, too.”

“Is it too soon to retire?” Yixing groaned into Sehun’s neck.

“You’re not _that_ old,” Sehun said, rubbing broad circles into his back.  At Suho’s, Yixing was never exactly subtle when it came to how he acted around Baekhyun and Sehun, and nobody seemed to have connected the dots just yet.  But calling Sehun _baby_ in that adoring voice of his and cuddling close to his side had even Yifan’s eyebrows climbing above the frames of his aviators.  Jongdae’s face was practically split in half with his grin.

“I thought Baekhyun was working tonight,” Yixing said, still hanging off of Sehun.  “Where is he?”

Jongdae leaned over the bar, eyes twinkling with something that had Sehun bracing himself.  “He’s taking some trash full of broken glass out.  Some asshole got a little rough with Xiumin earlier and shattered a bottle when we told him to leave.”

“Oh?” Yixing’s arms curled more tightly around Sehun in a protective embrace.  “Is Xiumin okay?”

Jongdae waved dismissively.  “Nothing he couldn’t handle.  Suho-hyung had the guy out the door before he could do any real damage.  Baekhyunnie got the worst of it when we put him on janitor duty since he’s not even supposed to be here tonight.”

That made Yixing frown.  “He’s not?”

“Nope, Lu Han was,” Jongdae said.  “But he’s sick, so I’m temping for him.  Baekhyun just read the schedule wrong.”

They usually had two men manning the bar, one on each end.  Three was kind of overkill and left little elbow room for maneuvering, which meant Baekhyun wasn’t doing much that night but getting in the way.

When he did come back to the bar, five minutes later, his face lit up as soon as he saw Yixing.  He didn’t even bother with going behind the bar, opting instead to slide up against Yixing like he was a dancer that night, playing pliable men for tips.

“And what can I help _you_ with, handsome?”

“How about a private dance,” Yixing suggested, thinking he was being sly, “From the two prettiest boys in this joint?”

“We don’t do private dances,” Baekhyun said, leaning against Sehun.  “I don’t like one-on-ones with strange men, and he’s too high maintenance for anything more than a single-song lap dance.”

“I’ll go up to _three_ songs, thanks,” Sehun protested.

Yixing pulled out his wallet and waved some bills in their faces.  “I’m willing to pay you both generously.”

Baekhyun rolled his eyes.  “You _know_ you don’t have to pay us for that.”

“And what if I want to anyway?”

“Is spending money on us one of your kinks or something?” Sehun asked, genuinely curious.

Yixing bit his lip and quickly looked away, and Baekhyun gasped in mock-surprise.

“It _is_!  You dirty, dirty old man.”

“I like to take care of you two,” he said, almost bashfully.  “Is that really such a crime?”

Sehun shrugged.  “You tell us, you’re the lawyer.”

“So am I going to get that dance, or should I look for some other pretty boys who will be more willing to accommodate me?”

“Don’t you _dare_ ,” Baekhyun hissed.  “Sehunnie, go con a key out of Junmyeon-hyung.”

Sehun pulled away from Baekhyun and crossed his arms.  “What?  Why me?  I’m not even supposed to be here.”

“Because he has a huge soft spot for you,” Baekhyun shoved his shoulder.  “Especially now that you have a boo-boo.  No go!  I’ll make sure daddy’s eye doesn’t wander.”

“ _Daddy_?” Jongdae repeated, and Sehun knew their cover was _really_ blown now.

“Do you _have_ to call him that?” Sehun muttered, face burning.  The only response he got as he headed off in the direction of the employees only section was Jongdae's cackle.

It was a short walk to Junmyeon’s office.  Halfway down the hall that led to the locker rooms, there was a narrow stairwell that led to a single room that sat just above the stage.  It took a lot longer than usual, however, with Sehun’s awkward boot bracing his foot.  He tried to mentally rehearse what he was going to say as he made the awkward trek up the stairs, but he found himself in front of the office door unfortunately quickly.

He took a deep breath, and knocked.

“Hyung?” Sehun peeked his head into Junmyon’s office.  There was a window behind his desk that looked down at the club floor.  It was how Junmyeon kept an eye on everything when he wanted to stay out of sight.  Warm lamplight flickered like an unsettled plume of dust as it was interrupted by the flashing stage lights.  How that didn’t annoy the shit out of Junmyeon was beyond Sehun’s comprehension.  “It’s your favorite and prettiest dongsaeng.”

Junmyeon looked up from his computer and beckoned Sehun inside.  “I thought I told you to stay out of the club until your ankle was all healed up.”

“Yeah, about that,” Sehun strolled in and took a seat on the corner of Junmyeon’s desk, “I was in the neighborhood and thought I’d ask for a quick favor.”

“Which would be?”

“A key to one of the private rooms, for me and Baekhyun-hyung to use.  Off the record.”

“No way,” Junmyeon shook his head as he continued typing.  “Baekhyun is on bar duty and you’re not supposed to be dancing at all.”

“Jongdae is already here when he doesn’t need to be,” Sehun said.  “And I’ll take it easy, I swear! I’ll make Baekhyun do all the work.  I don’t need two fully functioning feet to shake my hips, you know.”

“No offence, but hobbling isn’t sexy,” Junmyeon said, in all his wisdom.  “Who the hell even propositions a bartender and someone who looks like a patron?”

“It’s not for some random guy,” Sehun leaned in close, “It’s for Yixing.”

Junmyeon’s fingers froze over his keyboard.  “Yeah, I’ve been seeing a lot of him here lately.”

Sehun shrugged.  “He has good taste."

Junmyeon pushed his keyboard away and folded his hands in front of him as he regarded Sehun with a knowing look.  “But he doesn’t seem to buy many dances, does he? Or any, come to think of it.”

Shit.

“Buys drinks, though,” Sehun pointed out.

“And suddenly,” Junmyeon continued, “He wants a _private_ _dance_ from you and Baekhyun?”

Sehun’s ears buzzed.  He felt like his dad just found his porn collection shoved under his mattress or something.  “We work well together.  Everyone knows that.”

Junmyeon rolled his eyes as a smile spilled across his face.  “Sehun, just be straight up with me.  Are you having sex with him?”

“Uh.”

Junmyeon’s eyebrows rose expectantly.

“Kind of?  It’s complicated.”

“How do you kind of have sex with someone?”

Oh, fuck it.  

“I’m dating him, actually.  And so is Baekhyun.  At the same time.  We’re all dating each other.”

That wasn’t what Junmyeon was expecting.  Sehun could tell by the way his expression crumpled in confusion.  “What, you mean – all three of you?”

“All three of us.”

“At once?”

“You got it.”

“Doesn’t that get,” Junmyeon made vague gestures, “Complicated?”

“Not really.  We make it work.”

Junmyeon paused thoughtfully.  “Well… First of all this violates the no boyfriends in the club rule–”

“Oh, it’s not like that,” Sehun assured him.  “I think…  I think Yixing-hyung likes to see us up on stage together.  Besides, he knows what it’s like, right?  It’s not like he’s gonna get weird about other people watching us.  He used to do this, too.”

“– Okay, but that doesn’t help my second of all, which is the fact that you want to perform a private dance for your boyfriend…  With your _other_ boyfriend?”

“Yep.”

“Sehun, this isn’t a…  Hangout spot,” Junmyeon chided gently.  “Paying customers might want to use that room.  Not to mention, Baekhyun came here to work the bar.”

“Come on,” Sehun put his cute voice on, the pleading one that just barely managed to avoid being a whine.  “We’re pretty much dead tonight, and there’s already two people on the bar, and nobody is in the mood for a private dance after we had to throw out that one guy who got rough with Minseok-hyung, and–”

“Okay, okay, okay,” Junmyeon said.  Sehun could see his resolve crumbling.  With an overdramatic sigh, he pulled open one of his desk drawers and took out a key with a shining #4 tag on it.

“Only because I love you and I trust Yixing.”

Sehun clapped and reached for the key.  “Thank you, hyung!”

“One condition,” Junmyeon said, holding the key just out of Sehun’s reach, “Absolutely _no_ …  Funny business back there.  Take that elsewhere.”

Sehun put a hand over his heart.  “Scout’s honor.”

“You would have been a terrible scout,” Junmyeon said, but he was smiling.  “Now go on, have your fun.”

Sehun snatched the key and kissed Junmyeon’s cheek.  “You’re the best.”

He hobbled back down the stairs as fast as he could.  At the bottom, he crossed paths with Jongin, who was artfully ruffling his hair and looking like he was about to head out onto the floor.

“Hey,” he thumped Sehun’s shoulder as he passed, “Baekhyun and your sugar daddy are waiting for you in the locker room.”

“He’s not our sugar daddy!” Sehun protested, though that claim was getting harder and harder for even himself to take seriously.  “Get your Kai face on, you look too cute right now.”

“It’s a cute kind of night,” Jongin winked.

Sehun shook his head and turned the other way.  Only a few steps into the locker room and there was no sign of Baekhyun and Yixing.  He was about to call out for them when a stark naked Zitao running in from the stage door nearly ran him over.

“Come on, walking wounded here!”

“Oh, hey, Sehun,” Zitao said, hastily stuffing the mess of fabric in his hands into one of the laundry hampers and fanning himself with a fistfull of cash.  “Take your time healing, will you?  I’m getting _awesome_ tips now that you’re not here to take all of the best customers.”

Sehun scoffed as he watched Zitao crumple the bills up and shove them into his duffel bag.  “That’s not the kind of sympathy I was hoping for.”

“It’s a dog eat dog world,” Zitao said, shimmying into a pair of tight latex shorts that had Sehun’s balls aching in sympathy.  “Anyway, it’s not like you need good tips now that you have a super hot sugar daddy.  Seriously, where did you _find_ that guy?”

“Oh, great,” Sehun pinched the bridge of his nose, blushing.  “You know now, too.”

“I think it’s cute,” Zitao said.  “You should be proud.”

“Have you seen them at least?  Jongin said they were in here.”

“In the wardrobe room!” Sehun heard Baekhyun yell from the back of the locker room, in the closet that shot off in the opposite direction from the showers.

The closet wasn’t very big, but it was packed full of racks of clothing for every shape and size of man who danced at Suho’s.  Outfits for each night were always picked out and set aside in advance so they could get ready and back out on the floor as quickly as possible.  What wasn’t chosen stayed in that room.  Leather and fishnet and silk and suede, imitation cop uniforms, cheap but attractive three-piece suits begging to have the buttons popped off, full-on bondage getups.  They had it all.

There was even a schoolgirl uniform in there, with a pleated skirt and a top that was just a hair too short.  It was mostly used for fun routines, the ones that were playful and got the audience laughing as much as it got them panting for more.

And right then, Baekhyun was holding the skirt up to Yixing’s lap while Yixing desperately tried to push his hands away and looked like he was laughing himself halfway to tears.

“Oh,” Sehun rested against the door frame with a smirk, “ _There’s_ something I’d pay to see.”

“Sehunnie, make him stop!” Yixing wailed.

Baekhyun pouted.  “You’d look so cute, though!”

“We don’t have time for a dress rehearsal,” Sehun said.  “Unless you two want to waste that private room?”

“You got a key?” Baekhyun asked, eyes bright.  Sehun held it up for him to see.

“Room four.”

“Yes!” Baekhyun punched the air in celebration.  “Come on, let’s go!”

He took both Yixing and Sehun’s hands in his and all but dragged them out of the locker room.  Sehun almost stumbled, his injury making him clumsy, but he was feeling too dizzy with giddiness to care.  Except, when they got into the room, he was almost immediately shoved down into the soft sofa.

“What–” Sehun tried to get up, but Baekhyun pushed him back down again.  “Uh, I’m a little lost here.”

“We made an executive decision while you were gone,” Baekhyun said.  “You won’t be dancing tonight.”

“Is it because hobbling isn’t sexy?” Sehun asked, half joking and half put-out.

“It’s because you’re on the road to recovery,” Yixing said.  The light in here was tinged red and a little harsh, casting dark shadows as Yixing slinked closer.  He reminded Sehun of a panther stalking its prey.  “And as much as I want to see you dance a little, I’m a patient man.”

And then, without a word of warning, he plopped down in Sehun’s lap with his thighs spread wide.  That’s the last thing Sehun was expecting.  His hands hovered awkwardly in the air, wanting to touch but unsure of exactly what was happening here.

Yixing grinned at Sehun’s confusion.  “I can wait.”

“And lucky for us,” Baekhyun began, standing behind Yixing and wrapping his arms around his shoulders, “There’s another dancer here to fill in for you.”

“Wait,” Sehun’s gaze shifted back and forth between the two of them.  “Yixing-hyung is going to dance?”

“Don’t expect much,” Yixing said.  His smile turned humble, almost sheepish.  “It’s been a while.”

“Now, now, don’t sell yourself short,” Baekhyun said, moseying toward the back wall.  Each room had a small closet that housed the sound system.  Baekhyun slid the wall panel aside and set up something so quickly that Sehun could only assume he picked a random playlist.  He wanted to tease Baekhyun for being impatient, but he was feeling it, too.

Sehun felt a little under-dressed in his jeans and t-shirt, no matter how pricey they were.  Baekhyun was wearing the same thing all of the non-entertainment staff at Suho’s wore, just a simple white button down tucked into black pants.  Skinny jeans, in his case, with the knees torn out.  Yixing was dressed similarly, except he had a tie on at least.

_Not for long_ , Sehun’s brain reminded him, and he felt himself start to sweat.

It was awkward at first, when Baekhyun and Yixing realized they had absolutely nothing planned.  After a few false starts, Yixing grabbed Baekhyun by the shoulder and spun him around before crowding behind him and whispering something in his ear.  Sehun couldn’t hear it, but it made Baekhyun bite his lip and nod.

They fell into something simple, just rocking together to the beat of the music.  Yixing’s front pressed to Baekhyun’s back as he took control of the dance.  Baekhyun seemed more than content to let that happen as he met every roll of Yixing’s body with practiced gyrations of his own hips, the kind of things Sehun had gotten used to seeing a million times when they worked together.

Not even a quarter through the first song, Baekhyun reached behind himself and hooked his thumbs in Yixing’s waistband, tugging it down a bit.

“Not so soon,” Yixing giggled, pushing Baekhyun’s hands away.  

“Come on,” Baekhyun gave a little teasing shimmy.  “We all know where this is going.”

Baekhyun spun around then, startling Yixing as he grabbed the tie around his neck and dragged him close for a hard kiss.  

“This,” he gave the tie a tug, “Will stay.”

“Whatever you say, boss,” Yixing shot back.  

They continued, swaying and grinding against each other.  Baekhyun’s shirt was gone in no time, half-unbuttoned and hastily dragged over his head to fall in a careless heap on the floor.  He kicked it aside and Sehun had to stop himself from rolling his eyes.  Baekhyun’s dick was really taking over his higher brain functions tonight.

There was no way they could have taken the time to work out some kind of routine for this, but their motions still felt natural and in sync as they grinded together, tugging teasingly at each other’s clothes.  Baekhyun was being much showier – making sure Sehun could see the tantalizing skin just above his cock when he pulled his waistband low, swaying his hips to give brief teasing glimpses of his ass, shooting winks and smirks in Sehun’s direction.

But Yixing, he didn’t move like Baekhyun – all sweet and lithe and looking desperate to get fucked.  There was a firm assuredness to every one of his movements.  It made him look cocky and commanding and Sehun didn’t even try to pretend that wasn’t hot.

Baekhyun had managed to sneakily undo every button on Yixing’s shirt except for the bottom one.  Sehun couldn't help but think about how expensive that shirt was.  By the end of the night, it would be stained and stinking of sweat.  It was when Baekhyun unsubtly went for the button on his trousers and managed to get them open that Yixing rolled his eyes and gave Baekhyun a little push.  He stumbled and landed next to Sehun with an _oof_.

“You’re tripping me up,” Yixing explained.  “Go keep Sehunnie company.”

Baekhyun gaped a little.  He might have been drooling.  “Yes, _sir_.”

There was an immediate difference in the way Yixing danced when he was alone.  Without a partner next to him, his movements were more open and free.  The jut of his hips, the bend of his knees, the roll of his shoulders – it was downright decadent, every gesture calculated to make his boys practically swoon.

He dragged a hand through his hair, irreparably fucking up the hold the gel had on it.  Wisps fell in his eyes as he moved, casting shadows as they caressed his skin.  When he was like this, he looked both parts powerful and pretty.  Sehun was suddenly jealous of everyone who got to see him during his time as an actual dancer.  

A young Yixing must have been something.  The way he moved, the control he had over his body – he was out of practice, but there was a fair amount of actual skill there, which made Sehun want him almost as much as the pure filth that was radiating off of him like fire.  Yixing was good at everything, Sehun decided, so fucking _good._

Baekhyun’s hands stroked down Sehun’s stomach as he watched, totally transfixed.  He hummed appreciatively when Yixing finally undid that last awful button holding his shirt together and shrugged it from his shoulders.  It inched down his arms so slowly that Sehun felt his fingers digging into his thigh with the effort it took to stay seated.  He wanted nothing more than to take the few short strides to Yixing and pull that fucking shirt off himself.  

But eventually, it dropped the rest of the way.  Yixing caught it in deft finger tips and flung it towards the couch.  It hit Sehun in the face, eliciting a laugh from Baekhyun.  Sehun just shoved it aside and kept his eyes wide open.  

The tie stayed on, per Baekhyun’s orders.  Tragically, the pants didn’t come the whole way off after that, because the spell that had fallen over the room abruptly shattered.  It was like one misstep fucked up his rhythm entirely, and he was quickly stumbling with his feet disobeying him and the dance completely gone.  He stood still and frowned a moment, looking deep in thought, before doubling over in embarrassed laughter.

Baekhyun threw his arms up in the air.  “You lost it! You were doing so well, too!”

“I don’t even _know_ this song,” was Yixing’s defense.

“It’s the most repetitive beat _ever_ ,” Sehun said.  “Why do you think it’s on this playlist?”

“You wouldn’t get any tips from me,” Baekhyun said, flashing a thumbs down.

Yixing rolled his eyes, but he was smiling.  Red light reflected in the sweat shining on his cheekbones, on his chest.  He looked as natural standing half naked in the middle of that room with some minor-key EDM remix of a pop song blasting overhead as he did buttoned up to his throat in a three piece suit.

“I think I can make it up to you,” he said, voice low and so quiet that Sehun almost didn’t hear him.  It would be hard to miss what happened next, though.  

Yixing approached them and turned around, giving Sehun a view of his bare back, the taper from his shoulders down to his hips.  Then he seated himself right in Sehun’s lap, pressing his back into Sehun’s chest with his legs spread wide and folded under him on either sides of Sehun’s thighs.  Sehun hated giving lap dances from that angle.  It was harder to move and almost impossible to gauge the patron’s reaction.  Yixing didn’t seem to have that problem, or maybe he just knew what Sehun liked well enough to not have to worry about it.  Sehun splayed a palm around Yixing’s hip, but Baekhyun slapped his hand away.  

“Ah – no touching,” he chided.  “Rules are rules.”

Sehun was about to whine about how this wasn’t by any means a normal dance with normal rules.  But then Yixing was telling him in a firm voice to _be good, baby, be a good boy for me like I know you can_.  And Sehun let his hands drop to the cushion, ignoring the way Baekhyun grinned like he had the devil in him.

It was hard to keep his hands off of Yixing when he arched his back for Sehun to see, thrusted his hips the slightest bit in a way that was strategically planned to make Sehun think about spreading him open and burying his cock deep.  And the way he rose up to his knees before he slowly, _ungodly slowly_ , lowered himself down over the tent in Sehun’s trousers was pure torment.

Yixing seated himself fully in Sehun’s lap, letting out a sigh.  The movement of his hips stopped being anything approaching dancing almost immediately, and instead became teasing rhythmless grinding.  Sehun’s head fell back against the sofa and he tried to think about the promise he made to Junmyeon.  It worked for about three seconds, until a pressure against his chest distracted him.  He looked up to see Baekhyun standing again, and pushing Yixing backwards.

Baekhyun practically tried to crawl into Yixing’s lap as he kissed him, impossible as that would be considering Yixing was already perched over Sehun’s lap himself.  It wasn’t a cute flirty kiss or the kind of half-fake kisses the dancers would sometimes give each other when they wanted to put on a show more than anything.  It was real and hard and impatient and pretty clearly signaled that dancing was over and it was time for more important things.

Or at least, that’s how Sehun’s dick understood it, because he felt himself thrusting upwards against Yixing’s ass at the sight of it.  Yixing gasped and broke the kiss, grinding down against Sehun’s erection.

“Oh,” Yixing reached over his shoulder with one hand and let it curl in Sehun’s hair.  “You’re hard just from that?  Cute.”

“Shut up,” Sehun whined, and Yixing just laughed.  The laugh turned into a surprised half-yelp when Baekhyun wrapped the tie around his fist and tugged hard, until Yixing was stumbling off the sofa and Baekhyun was falling to his knees.

“It’s fine, it’s not like I was sitting there,” Yixing said, and Sehun snorted at the petulant passive-aggression in his voice.  Baekhyun ignored him as he spread his palms out on Sehun’s thighs and dragged them apart so he could settle between them.

“I can’t believe it,” he teased, almost too quiet to hear past the music still playing in the room.  “Hard from a little lap dance.”

“From watching you two,” Sehun admitted.

Baekhyun tutted and palmed Sehun’s cock through his jeans.  “And what are we going to do about this?”

“I told Junmyeon-hyung we wouldn’t fuck back here,” Sehun said.  “We’re gonna make a mess…”

“Sehunnie, think about it,” Baekhyun said, reaching up to hold Sehun’s chin between his thumb and forefinger.  “How can we take care of this little problem of ours _without_ making a mess?"

Sehun’s brain worked for a moment before he said, “You just want to suck a dick.”

Baekhyun rolled his eyes.  “Of _course_ I want to suck a dick, don’t you?”

“Uh,” Yixing piped up awkwardly from behind them, “I can wait.”

Baekhyun turned to look at him.  “And risk you getting blue balls?  I wouldn’t let _that_ happen!  Besides, I have to go back out there and work at some point.  Think of me and my suffering for once.”

“You’re hard, too?” Sehun had to ask, and Baekhyun looked back at him with a filthy smirk.

“I’m certainly getting there.”

“We really shouldn’t,” Yixing protested weakly, and Baekhyun got up to approach him.  “If Junmyeon said we shouldn’t–”

He trailed off when Baekhyun started backing him up with a hand on his chest, until he was pressed against the far wall and Baekhyun was falling to his knees.  Sehun leaned forward in his seat, but didn’t dare get up without permission.

“All that, and you’re not even halfway there?” Baekhyun whined.  Sehun couldn’t see his face, but he was probably pouting.

“It’s called,” Yixing swallowed, “Self control.”

“If you have this much self control then I clearly wasn’t doing a good enough job,” Baekhyun said, cupping Yixing’s cock.  “Sehunnie, do you think you could come give me a hand with this?”

That was it.  Sehun rose to his feet and dropped down next to Baekhyun on the floor, hoping this room got cleaned as much as Junmyeon said it did.

“He shouldn’t,” Yixing objected, even as he curled his fingers in Sehun’s hair.  “He’s hurt.”

“My knees are just fine, hyung,” Sehun assured him.

It didn’t take long for them to get Yixing hard like that.  He pressed his cock to Sehun’s lips, and Sehun was feeling cruel enough to tease him with small kisses and barely-there licks against the head.  Yixing whined, and Baekhyun’s impatience saved him any further torment as he took control, swallowing Yixing as deep as he could go.  But when Yixing’s hips gave a sudden roll and Baekhyun pulled back in surprised, Sehun flushed as an idea hit him.

“Fuck his mouth,” he blurted out, surprising even himself.  Two pairs of eyes sat heavy on him as he muttered in a quieter voice, “Please, daddy?  I wanna see it.”

Baekhyun’s grin was wild and Yixing’s voice was soft when he asked, “Is that okay, Baekhyunnie?”

For once in his life, Baekhyun didn’t answer with words.  His reply came in the way his lidded eyes slid shut and his mouth dropped open and waiting.  Yixing pushed inside slowly, letting Baekhyun adjust.  Then he built up a steady rhythm, nothing Baekhyun couldn’t handle.  He looked so pretty like that, with his eyeliner the slightest bit smudged and his pretty pink lips wrapped around a cock.  Sehun was enjoying the view so much that he startled a bit when he felt Baekhyun touch him.

It started with Baekhyun’s hand fisting in the fabric of Sehun’s t-shirt.  Sehun assumed he was bracing himself, holding on for dear life.  That kind of thing.  But then his hand dragged down Sehun’s chest, over his stomach, and finally to his fully-hard cock.  He gave Sehun a firm squeeze that made him moan so loudly that even Yixing noticed it.

“Oh, no you don’t.”

There were suddenly fingers in Baekhyun’s hair, twisting the slightest bit as Yixing wretched his head back.  Baekhyun moaned as his eyelids fluttered open and his jaw became totally slack.  There was no roughness to the hand in Sehun’s hair.  Yixing was as gentle with him as always.

“We’re not allowed to make a mess, right?” Yixing asked, voice infuriatingly calm for how hard his cock was.  “You don’t get touch each other until I say you can.”

“Yes, daddy,” Sehun breathed automatically, and flushed in embarrassment the second the words were out.  Baekhyun just grinned.

“And what if we do it anyway?” he asked, as insolent as ever.  Yixing gave his hair another tug, a warning, and Baekhyun’s grin only widened.

“Maybe I won’t let you come,” Yixing threatened.  “I’ll send you back out there while you’re still hard.  Let everyone see how needy you are.”

“As if you’d throw me to the wolves like that,” Baekhyun shot back.  “I know it bothers you a little bit when people make a pass at me.  You can pretend all you want, but I know.”

Sehun had no idea if it was true or just a bluff to get a rise of out Yixing.  If it was the latter, it sure as hell worked.

“Sehunnie,” Yixing began, eyes drilling into Baekhyun as he said it, “Let’s make sure our Baekhyunnie doesn’t forget who he belongs to.”

All that poking and prodding from Baekhyun paid off when Yixing pushed back inside and proceeded to truly and thoroughly fuck his mouth.  Sehun held him still with a soft hand on the back of his neck, stroking the skin there as he peppered Baekhyun’s cheeks with soft kisses in counterpoint to the relentless roughness of Yixing’s hips.  Before long, there were tears beading on Baekhyun’s lashes, and his voice was bound to be wrecked after this.

When Yixing came, he held Baekhyun in place, one hand curled tight in his hair and the other curved under his jaw as he groaned and jerked his hips and fell apart.  Baekhyun’s brow furrowed as he swallowed it down dutifully.  He coughed a little when Yixing pulled out.  One final rope of come shot across Baekhyun’s mouth, and Sehun didn’t waste any time before he was licking it away.  Baekhyun kissed him hard, biting his bottom lip and murmuring about how filthy he was.

“So, daddy,” Baekhyun began when he pulled away and gazed up at Yixing through his lashes, “Do I have your _permission_ to touch Sehunnie now?”

Yixing, still panting, nodded in the direction of the sofa.  “Go sit down, Sehunnie.  We’re going to take care of you next.”

Sehun hobbled over to the couch as fast as that goddamn boot would let him.

-

In a fit of guilt, Sehun talked Baekhyun into telling Junmyeon the next night.

“Sehunnie,” Junmyeon groaned, face buried in his hands, “You _promised_.”

Honestly, Sehun really _did_ feel kind of bad about that.

“We were really efficient about it, though!” Baekhyun swore.  “He came in my mouth so there was nothing to clean up.  And then I came in his mouth.  And then Sehun–”

“Oh my _god_ ,” Junmyeon moaned.  “Spare me the details, please.”

Junmyeon was a kind man, a forgiving man, a merciful man.  But he still sent them straight down to disinfect every surface in the room, just in case.

-

They got gloriously drunk one Saturday night, Baekhyun and Sehun.  So drunk that they got kicked out of the bar.  That didn’t deter them at all.  They wandered the neighborhood, singing songs that bounced like pinballs down the dark, wet streets.  Sehun didn’t even feel the icy rain, the gentle drizzle of it turning his hair into a half-wet matted mess.  They tripped over curbs and got dirty looks from half the people who passed them by, but nothing would stop them.

They approached a church that hosted a wedding today, or maybe would host one tomorrow.  There were decorations framing the door, soggy streamers and fake flowers.  Against Sehun’s protestations, Baekhyun stole a bright pink one for himself and a yellow one for Sehun.  They tucked them behind their ears and stumbled into a subway car laughing so hard over nothing at all that their stomach muscles burned.

It took Sehun so long to unlock the front door that Yixing got there first, pulling it open with Vivi on his hip and a look of abject confusion on his face.  That might have had something to do with Baekhyun standing behind Sehun with his arms spread wide, jacket shrugged to his elbows and stretched taut like wings as he hummed something under his breath.

“I let you two run wild _once_ ,” Yixing said slowly, “And this is how you come home to me?”

Sehun wanted so desperately to nuzzle into Yixing’s chest, but he was too tall for that.  So with uncoordinated hands, he pushed Yixing back farther and farther until Yixing was sitting on the couch with a curious smile and Vivi was wriggling out of his hold to chase Baekhyun around the living room.  Sehun took the flower from behind his ear and tucked it behind Yixing’s, loving the way the bright yellow contrasted with the darkness of his hair.  Then Sehun knelt on the ground and shoved his face into Yixing’s stomach, sighing happily.

“Sorry we’re all sloppy,” he murmured.  “We got drunk.”

“Yeah,” Yixing’s fingers carded through Sehun’s hair.  “I can see that.”

“Don’t be mad,” Baekhyun said, plopping down next to Yixing on the couch and nearly managing to knee Sehun’s head in the process.  Vivi jumped up after him and immediately got comfortable on his lap.

“Why would I be mad?” Yixing asked, laughter in his voice.

“Because you’re so clean and good and pretty and you know everything and you’re amazing and we’re probably gonna start puking in a few hours,” Baekhyun blurted out in one whooshing breath.

For a moment, Yixing was silent.  His fingers in Sehun’s hair were reassuring even as his tongue sat still.  When he spoke, his voice was warm, like sticking your cold toes in a patch of toasty sunshine on a winter morning.

“I adore you two, did you know that?  I should probably repeat that later when you’re sober enough to remember it.  But I do right now and I will later when you’re puking.  Pinky promise.  I adore you.”

The rain outside picked up in intensity, falling with such force that even in his drunken state, Sehun noticed it banging against the windows, demanding to be let in.  It couldn’t touch them now, not curled up in warmth as they were.  With surprising clarity, Sehun realized he was happy.  He might not be mapping out his future like Baekhyun, or entirely secure in the present like Yixing.  But he had them, and he hoped they would always have him in return, and he was happy.

-

The seventh gift was a bit backwards.

“Here,” Sehun leaned over the kitchen table and reached for Yixing, “Give me your hand.”

With a curious smile on his face, Yixing did.  Sehun felt Baekhyun’s hands resting on his shoulders from where he was standing behind Sehun, watching intently.  It was early in the evening but already dark outside now that they were finally deep in winter and the snow swept in to blow away the dreary autumn rainstorms.  The bright light from overhead made the ring glint prettily as Sehun slid it on Yixing’s finger.

Yixing held his hand up and examined it.  “You didn’t have to–”

“We wanted to,” Baekhyun insisted.  “It’s kind of something we’ve been wanting to do for a while.”

“ _Really_?” Yixing cocked a brow.  “What’s the occasion?”

“You mean you don’t remember?” Sehun whined, wiggling his own fingers so the silver ring on his hand caught the light.  Something like recognition spilled across Yixing’s face as he eyes darted between the three of them.  Specifically, his eyes focused on their hands.  Their matching silver rings.

“It was over a year ago, now,” Baekhyun reminded him.  “You bought me and Sehunnie rings.  We figured you should have one, too.”

“Boys,” he began, tone chiding despite the pleased look on his face, “Those rings weren’t exactly cheap.”

“Nope,” Sehun grinned.

“They really weren’t,” Baekhyun added.  

The two of them made a point of hunting down the exact brand and style and splitting the cost evenly.  It was a little corny, but they didn’t care.

“Aren’t you gonna say thank you?” Baekhyun asked.  His fingers dug into Sehun’s shoulders, tense with nervous excitement.  Yixing fiddled with the ring, spinning it around his finger.

“Thank you,” he said, and Sehun could have sworn he was blushing.  “That was very sweet of you.”

Baekhyun wandered to the other side of the table and planted a kiss on Yixing’s temple.  “And hopefully,” he began, looking at Yixing’s hand, “This will stop everyone from flirting with you now that you look like a kept man.”

Yixing was definitely blushing then, pursing his lips like that would hide his smile.  “Nobody flirts with me.”

“Oh, shut up,” Baekhyun said.  “You know how beautiful you are, and so does everyone else.  Now come on, let’s make some food before I starve to death.”

And with that, Baekhyun was turning and walking to the countertop.  He was singing something under his breath as he shimmied and searched the cupboards, Vivi circling around his ankles, but Yixing was still staring at his hand.

“You okay, hyung?” Sehun asked, and Yixing’s eyes snapped up to his.  He regarded Sehun in silence for a moment before crooking his finger, wordlessly asking for Sehun to move closer.  He did, and Yixing gave him a sweet kiss on the mouth.

“Seriously,” he murmured, “Thank you.”

“No problem,” Sehun said.

“Hey, guys,” Baekhyun called, and Vivi barked.  “Yesterday nobody trusted me with the stove, and now I’m the lone cook?  What’s up with that?”

“Come on,” Sehun grabbed Yixing’s hand and pulled him to his feet.  “It would be a shame if we had to sell those rings so we could afford to renovate the kitchen because Baekhyun-hyung caught it on fire.”

“I’ve never let a kitchen fire get out of control in my life,” Baekhyun reminded them.

“Yes, we’re very proud of you for that,” Yixing teased as he poked Baekhyun’s side.  Sehun bent down to pick Vivi up into his arms.

“We don’t need you getting underfoot,” he said to him, sitting back down as Vivi happily relaxed against his chest.

The wind picked up outside, whistling faintly as it passed by the window.  Sehun could just barely make out a flurry of fat snowflakes falling like a sheer curtain over Seoul, dimming the lights that shone from street lights, office buildings, other apartment complexes.  He thought back to that shitty studio apartment he didn’t miss, with the clanging radiator and the stove with a broken burner.  He was always freezing back then.

Not now, though.  Now, he was warm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh my goodness when did this fic get so LONG???? i never expected so much positive feedback, so thank you guys so much for the encouraging comments and kudos ❤ ❤ i hope you enjoyed this!


End file.
